How to switch health insurance: Step-by-step
Find out exactly how to switch health insurance and get a better policy for your needs. Plus, tips on avoiding gaps in your cover ahead of the switching process.
Key takeaways
- Switching health funds is easy, fast and can save you hundreds over the years you hold cover.
- Any waiting periods already served will transfer over to your new fund with you.
- You can benefit from sign-up offers – like gift vouchers and free weeks' of cover – without impacting your continuity of insurance.
One of the easiest ways to save money on your private health insurance is to switch to a better value policy. Health insurers tend to offer their best deals to new customers, with promotions ranging from weeks free to cashback, waived waiting periods - or even an exclusive Finder Reward. According to recent Finder research, only 16% regularly switch their health insurance to get the best value out of their cover, despite how easy and painless it is to switch.
If you are thinking about switching your health cover, here's everything you need to know.
How does health insurance switching work?
In Australia, hospital insurance is portable, which means you can easily move between health funds. Portability is guaranteed by the federal government for hospital policies, but not for extras policies.
This means hospital policies are super easy to switch, and your already-served waiting periods will transfer across. For extras, while transferring waiting periods is not guaranteed, most health funds will apply the same rules, so you'll probably have your waiting periods transferred across if you're moving to equivalent cover.
How do you switch health insurance?
1
Compare health policies
Find a new policy that offers the same or better cover, for less money. Comparing takes a little time, but we can help. You can start looking for the best health insurance for you if you scroll down.2
Sign up online
Sign up for the new policy. You don't need to contact your current insurer; you new provider will handle all the back-end admin for you.3
Check your account statement
About a month after switching, check your account to make sure your payments for the old policy have been cancelled. Then you're all set!Pros and cons of switching health insurance
Switching health insurance isn't totally risk free. Whether it's worth switching health insurance will depend on your current policy, your location and your health needs. Here are a few pros and cons to consider.
Switching pros
- Get a better policy. There are thousands of health policies to choose from, but they're loosely categorised into Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold to make comparing easy.
- Save money. You might be able to save money with a different fund – even if the policy inclusions are exactly the same. According to Finder research, 58% of Australians consider price the most important factor when deciding on a health insurance provider.
- Sign-up offers. You'll be a new customer to your new fund, so you're eligible for sign-up deals like 12 weeks free cover, or a visa gift card.
- No need to wait. If you've already served waiting periods for equivalent cover, you won't need to re-serve them – hospital waiting periods are legally required to be transferred over.
Switching cons
- Changing cover levels. If you switch to lower policy, that could leave you without cover for something you need.
- Extras waiting periods. While the government requires health funds to honour already served hospital waiting periods, extras vary by fund and may not transfer.
- Losing a policy that's no longer available. If you switch from a grandfathered policy that's not available anymore, you won't be able to get it back.
- Loyalty benefits. If you have any loyalty benefits with your current fund, you'll lose access to them.
Sign-up deals for switching health insurance
One of the best things about switching health insurance providers is that you may be eligible for some sweet sign-up deals! As long as you're a new customer to the new provider, any sign-up deal should apply to you. Here are a few live deals from Finder partners.
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Switching health fund vs changing policy
If you're not happy with your current health insurance, you have two options: switching to a different policy under a new brand or having a look at other policies available from your health fund.
Switching to a different policy with your health fund
In some cases, you may find there is another policy that's cheaper and fits your needs better. It's also going to be less admin to stick with the same provider, which is a plus.
However, if you change policies with the same provider, the cons of switching health funds still apply. For instance, if you go to a higher level of cover, you'll need to re-serve waiting periods and you may lose a grandfathered plan. You also won't get access to sign-up offers that you would if you switched to a new provider.
Switching to a new health insurer
If you are interested in switching health insurers completely, it's important to be aware of the waiting period rules when joining a new policy. Whether or not you will be subject to reserving waiting periods depends on two factors: the level of cover you're switching to and length of your break from cover.
For Australians looking to switch health insurers but maintain the same level of cover, you generally don't need to reserve the waiting period, as it will be recognised by your new insurer. Depending on where you're at with your cover, you may just need to serve the remainder if applicable.
If your previous cover has lapsed and you switch to a new policy within 30 - 60 days, you may be able to skip waiting periods. Extended breaks in cover can trigger the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading, which may impact how soon you can use your benefits. However, it's recommended to check with your new insurer, as each provider has its own "break in cover" criteria.
Customers looking to upgrade their cover (like switching from a silver policy to a gold one), will be expected to serve out the waiting period for the "upgraded' services.
Did you know?
Did you know 83% of Australians have stuck with the same health insurer long-term, even as premiums rose by 4.41% on average, according to Finder's 2026 Health Report? Just 40% review their policy annually, and 18% say they've never reviewed it. Loyalty often comes down to inertia rather than genuine value — switching insurers is usually simpler than people expect, and comparing funds each year is one of the easiest ways to make sure you're not overpaying for cover you don't fully understand.
Waiting periods when switching health funds
Waiting periods are treated slightly differently for hospital and extras cover. Let's go through them both:
Hospital waiting periods
Hospital is guaranteed portable, so waiting periods you've already served will transfer across. However, if you increasing your hospital tier, you'll need to serve waiting periods for your new treatment categories. Those waiting periods will be 2 months for most categories, or 12 months for child birth or pre-existing conditions.
For example, if your new policy covers pregnancy but your old one didn't, you'll have to wait 12 months.
Extras waiting periods
The portability guarantee does not apply to extras. That means your new insurer has the right to make you wait again. This doesn't happen very often though. Health funds want you to switch to them, so most of them will honour your previously served waiting periods when you're switching to equivalent cover.
To make sure you have consistent coverage, it's a good idea to call any prospective health fund ahead of time, to see if they'll honour your previous waiting periods.
Maintaining Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) status in Australia — what is it and what do I need to do?
The Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) is an Australian Government initiative designed to encourage people to take out private hospital cover earlier in life and maintain it over time. It directly affects how much you pay for your private health insurance premiums.
LHC applies to hospital cover only (not extras). If you take out eligible private hospital cover before 1 July following your 31st birthday, you lock in a 0% LHC loading. This means you avoid paying any additional premium purely based on your age when you joined.
If you join after this date, a loading of 2% is added to your hospital premium for every year you are over 30 when you first take out cover. This loading can increase your premium by up to 70%.
Are breaks in cover allowed?
Yes. You are allowed a total of 1,094 days (approximately 3 years) of cumulative breaks in hospital cover over your lifetime without affecting your LHC status. This includes time spent overseas or periods where you choose not to hold hospital cover. If you exceed this allowance, LHC loadings may apply when you take cover again.
How long do LHC loadings last?
If a loading does apply, it's not forever. Once you have held eligible hospital cover for 10 continuous years, the LHC loading is removed.
Once you have eligible hospital cover, maintaining your LHC status simply means keeping continuous cover. If you cancel your hospital cover or drop to a policy that doesn't meet LHC requirements, you may lose your protected status and risk having the loading applied (or increased) when you rejoin.
What do I need to do to avoid the LHC?
- Take out eligible private hospital cover before 1 July following your 31st birthday (if you haven't already)
- Keep your hospital cover active to avoid unnecessary loadings
- Be mindful of extended breaks in cover
- Check that any policy changes you make still meet LHC requirements
Why switch health funds?
"When I was switching health funds, my main motivation was to save money. I have access to some great public hospitals near me, including a $2bn university hospital, so I have health hospital cover for absolute worst-case scenarios and to save money on tax. I made sure I compared apples with apples and switched to a fund with the lowest premiums I could find."
Should you switch policies when having a baby?
A lot of people will review their health insurance because they're planning on having a baby. This is as good a time as any to make sure you're on the right policy, but you do have to time it right.
- If you're planning a baby you'll need health insurance that covers child birth at least 12 months ahead of time. Pregnancy has a longer than normal waiting period, so make sure you switch with enough time. If it's already too late, you'll need to give birth in the public system.
- If you've just had a baby you'll probably want to switch to a family policy to cover your newborn. You don't need to do this until they're born, but you should do it as soon as you can after that. If you're on a couples policy, you can upgrade to a family policy. If you're on a single policy, you can upgrade to a single-parent policy. And yeah, you can do this with your current health fund, or use it as an opportunity to switch.
- If you're done having babies then you might want to consider switching to a lower tier hospital policy that doesn't cover child birth. If you can find a policy that covers everything you still need without including child birth or IVF, then you'll probably save money. Just make sure you're definitely done having kids!
Frequently asked questions
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