Singles health insurance: how to compare and choose cover for one person
A singles policy covers one adult, and you can buy it as hospital-only, extras-only or combined hospital and extras cover. For most single people the choice then turns on two rules rather than on healthcare: the Medicare Levy Surcharge, which applies from $105,000 of income in 2026–27 if you have no hospital cover, and Lifetime Health Cover loading, which starts if you do not hold hospital cover by the 1 July after your 31st birthday.
Get those two right and what is left is a straightforward choice about how much cover you want. Singles have the widest choice of any group because there is nobody else's needs to plan around, which also makes it easy to overpay for cover you will not use.
By Better Rate Mate Editorial Team · Last reviewed
Singles policy options: hospital only, extras only or both
Health insurance for one person, sometimes called singles medical insurance, comes in three forms. Only the hospital part counts for the surcharge and Lifetime Health Cover, so the first decision is whether you want hospital cover at all.
| Policy | What it pays towards | Counts for the surcharge and LHC? | Often suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital only | Treatment as a private patient in hospital, in the tier and categories the policy covers | Yes, if the excess is $750 or less for the surcharge | Earners above $105,000 and anyone approaching their 31st birthday who rarely uses extras |
| Extras only | Dental, optical, physio and other services outside hospital, up to annual limits | No | People who use extras regularly but are under the surcharge threshold and not yet 31 |
| Hospital and extras | Both, in one policy with one premium (you can also buy them from two different funds) | Yes, through the hospital part | People who want hospital cover and claim extras every year |
Single parents
If your children live with you, a single parent membership covers you and your dependent children, and you're tested against the family thresholds for the surcharge and the rebate rather than the singles ones. Our guide to single parent health insurance covers what it costs against a singles policy and how the family rules apply.
Do you need hospital cover to avoid the surcharge?
If your income for surcharge purposes is above the singles threshold and you do not hold an appropriate hospital policy, the ATO adds a surcharge of 1% to 1.5% of that income at tax time. For 2026–27 the singles threshold is $105,000. The surcharge is calculated on your whole income for surcharge purposes, not just the amount over the threshold.
Any hospital policy from a registered Australian insurer counts, including Basic, as long as the yearly excess is no more than $750. Extras-only cover does not count. For many single earners just over the line, a low-tier hospital policy costs less than the surcharge, which means holding cover is cheaper than not holding it even if you never claim. Our Medicare Levy Surcharge calculator works through your own figures.
| Income for MLS purposes | Singles | Couples and families | Surcharge without hospital cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base tier | $105,000 or less | $210,000 or less | 0% |
| Tier 1 | $105,001 to $123,000 | $210,001 to $246,000 | 1.0% |
| Tier 2 | $123,001 to $164,000 | $246,001 to $328,000 | 1.25% |
| Tier 3 | $164,001 or more | $328,001 or more | 1.5% |
The 31st-birthday deadline
Lifetime Health Cover adds a loading of 2% to your hospital premium for every year you are aged over 30 when you first take out hospital cover, counting from the 1 July after your 31st birthday (your 'base day'). Join at 35 and you pay 8% more; join at 45 and you pay 28% more. The loading is capped at 70% and is removed once you have held hospital cover continuously for ten years.
Holding any hospital policy on your base day, even Basic, avoids the loading for good as long as you keep cover. Once you hold cover on or after your base day, you can have up to 1,094 days without hospital cover over your lifetime without the loading starting, and time spent overseas for a year or more is treated separately. Extras, overseas visitor cover and overseas student cover do not count.
Already past your base day? Our Lifetime Health Cover loading calculator works out the loading you would pay if you took out hospital cover now, and what waiting another year would add.
Waiting periods when you first join
A new hospital policy comes with waiting periods: up to 12 months for pre-existing conditions and for pregnancy and birth, and two months for most other treatment. Extras waits are set by each fund, so check the wait on any service you're joining for. Our guide to health insurance waiting periods has the full table and the switching rules.
Under 30? Look for the age-based discount
Since 1 April 2019, funds may discount hospital premiums by up to 10% for people who take out cover between 18 and 29. The discount is 2% for each year you are under 30, you keep it until you turn 41, and then it phases out by 2% a year. Not every fund or every policy offers it, so ask; our guide to the age-based discount lists the insurers that do and how it phases out. Combined with avoiding Lifetime Health Cover loading, starting in your twenties is the cheapest point to join.
| Your age when you first took a policy offering the discount | Maximum discount the insurer may offer |
|---|---|
| 18 to 25 | 10% |
| 26 | 8% |
| 27 | 6% |
| 28 | 4% |
| 29 | 2% |
| 30 or older | 0% |
How to choose the best health insurance for a single person
There's no single best policy for everyone, and we don't name one. The best policy for you is the one that passes these checks, in this order, at the lowest price after the rebate:
- Cover: the hospital clinical categories you're likely to need in the next few years. They set the tier: pick the lowest tier that guarantees them, or a Plus policy that adds them.
- Excess: the most you could pay on an admission. Keep it at $750 a year or less if the policy is also meant to avoid the surcharge.
- Hospitals: whether the private hospitals near you have an agreement with the fund, which usually means lower or no hospital out-of-pocket costs.
- Gaps and service: how often the fund's members avoid a medical gap in hospital, and its complaints against its market share. Our health fund comparison has the Ombudsman's 2024–25 figures for every fund.
- Extras: only if what you'd claim in a year is more than the extras premium.
- Price: compare the premium only between policies that pass the checks above, using privatehealth.gov.au.
Which tier suits one person
The tier you need depends on what you want covered, not your relationship status. A few common patterns for singles:
| Your situation | Minimum tier that covers it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mainly avoiding the surcharge and the LHC loading | Basic | Any hospital policy counts; Basic covers little beyond restricted rehab, psychiatric and palliative care |
| Play sport or want cover for common procedures | Bronze | Bronze must cover joint reconstructions, bone, joint and muscle, hernia and appendix, and more |
| Want heart, back and spine, or lung cover | Silver | These categories are Silver minimums |
| Planning a pregnancy or IVF in the next few years | Gold, or a Plus policy that adds the category | Pregnancy and birth and assisted reproduction are only guaranteed on Gold, and carry a 12-month wait |
| Want mental health admission in a private hospital without restriction | Gold, or check the PHIS | Psychiatric services may be restricted on Basic, Bronze and Silver |
Ways singles keep premiums down
Premiums are community rated: a fund must charge everyone the same price for the same policy regardless of health or claims history, with Lifetime Health Cover and the age-based discount as the only age-related differences. Premiums can differ between states.
- Choose a higher excess, up to $750 if the policy is for surcharge purposes.
- Take the age-based discount if you are under 30 and the policy offers it.
- Skip extras if your yearly claims would not exceed the extras premium.
- Pay in advance before 1 April, when funds apply their annual premium changes (the government-approved average for 2026 was 4.41%).
- Compare policies at renewal using each policy's Private Health Information Statement, not the product name.
How much does singles health insurance cost?
We don't publish premiums, because funds change them every 1 April and a stale price is worse than none. The government-approved average rise for 2026 was 4.41%, and individual policies moved by more or less. What we can tell you is what moves the price of a singles policy, so you can compare quotes on equal terms.
To see current prices, search privatehealth.gov.au, the Government's site, which lists every fund's policies for your state with their premiums and standard information statements.
- Hospital tier: Basic costs least and Gold most, because Gold must cover every clinical category.
- Excess: a higher excess lowers the premium. Keep it at $750 or less if you hold the policy to avoid the surcharge.
- Your state: premiums for the same policy can differ between states.
- Your rebate tier: the government rebate falls as your income rises and is nil above $164,000 in 2026–27.
- Lifetime Health Cover loading: 2% extra for each year you were over 30 when you first took hospital cover, up to 70%.
- The age-based discount: up to 10% off hospital premiums if you join between 18 and 29 and the policy offers it.
- Extras: whether you add them, and how generous the limits are.
When you are no longer single
A singles policy does not convert itself. When you move in with a partner, tell your fund and move to a couples policy or keep two singles policies. For the same policy a couples premium is usually exactly twice the singles premium, so the choice turns on cover rather than price; our guide to couples health insurance has the figures. Waits you have already served carry across for cover at the same level; your partner serves their own waits on anything new to them. For surcharge purposes, couples are assessed on combined income against the family threshold from the day the relationship begins.
What to watch for
- Extras cover does not exempt you from the surcharge or count for Lifetime Health Cover. Only hospital cover does.
- The loading starts from the 1 July after your 31st birthday, not the birthday itself.
- If the policy is for surcharge purposes, keep the excess at or below $750.
- Pregnancy and birth has a 12-month wait and is only guaranteed on Gold. Plan a year ahead if it could become relevant.
- If you have held cover before, ask your old fund for a clearance certificate so your new fund applies the right loading and waits.
Common questions
Is private health insurance worth it for a single person?
If your income is above the surcharge threshold ($105,000 for singles in 2026–27), a low-tier hospital policy often costs less than the 1% to 1.5% surcharge, so it pays for itself on tax alone. Below the threshold it is a healthcare decision: shorter waits for elective surgery, choice of doctor, and extras if you use them.
Which health insurance is best for a single person?
The one that covers the clinical categories you are likely to need at an excess you can afford. For many singles that is Bronze or a Bronze Plus policy, which covers common procedures such as joint reconstructions. Compare policies on their PHIS rather than brand.
Is it better to get singles or couples health insurance?
If you're in a couple, the price usually comes out the same either way: for the same policy most funds charge a couple exactly twice the singles premium, as 84% of matched hospital policies open on privatehealth.gov.au at 1 October 2026 were priced. A few charge a couple slightly less. So decide on cover: two singles policies let you each choose your own tier and fund, while one couples policy is simpler to manage.
What is the 80/20 rule in health insurance?
There's no 80/20 rule in Australian private health insurance; it's a US term. The closest published measure is the share of premiums funds pay back as benefits, which was 84.5% across all funds in 2024–25, according to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman's figures on privatehealth.gov.au. Each fund's own figure is on our health fund comparison.
Does Medicare pay 100%?
Only for GP visits outside hospital. Medicare pays 100% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule fee for GP attendances out of hospital, 85% for most other services out of hospital, such as specialist consultations, and 75% for services you receive as a private patient in hospital, according to Services Australia. Anything a doctor charges above the schedule fee is a gap, and hospital cover pays towards the in-hospital 25%.
What happens if I take out hospital cover after 31?
You pay a Lifetime Health Cover loading of 2% for each year you are over 30, based on your age on the 1 July before you join, up to 70%. It is removed after ten years of continuous hospital cover.
How much is private health insurance for a single?
It depends on the tier, excess, state and fund, and funds change premiums every 1 April, so we do not quote prices. The cheapest hospital policies are Basic and Bronze with a high excess. Use a comparison or the government's privatehealth.gov.au search for current prices.
Who is the cheapest health insurance provider in Australia?
There's no single answer: the price depends on the policy, your state, the tier and the excess, and funds change prices every 1 April. To find the cheapest policy for you, decide the tier and excess first, then sort the matching policies by premium for your state on privatehealth.gov.au, and check the cheapest one's clinical categories and waits before you buy.
I'm on a temporary visa. Is singles cover right for me?
If you're not eligible for Medicare, you generally need overseas visitor health cover instead, and your visa may require it. The surcharge and Lifetime Health Cover rules on this page work differently if you're not eligible for Medicare.
About the figures on this page
The Medicare Levy Surcharge and rebate income thresholds change each 1 July, and the rebate percentages each 1 April. The figures on this page were checked on 10 October 2026. For the latest figures see the ATO and the Government's privatehealth.gov.au.
