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LoansCredit CardsA couples policy covers two adults with no dependants. The obvious question is whether it beats holding two singles policies, and the answer is usually but not always yes.
The less obvious point is that becoming a couple changes how two of the tax rules apply to you, and both changes catch people out at tax time rather than at signup.
A couples premium is typically less than two singles premiums for equivalent cover, and you deal with one fund, one renewal and one excess structure. Two singles policies make sense when the two of you want genuinely different things — one wanting Gold for a specific reason and the other only needing Basic for the surcharge. Price both configurations rather than assuming the couples rate wins.
The Medicare Levy Surcharge is assessed on combined income for couples, against a family threshold rather than a single one. This means a couple can cross the threshold when neither individually would, and it means one partner's pay rise can create a surcharge liability for both. If your combined income is anywhere near the line, hospital cover is worth pricing against the surcharge.
Each person carries their own Lifetime Health Cover loading based on when they first took out cover. On a couples policy the fund applies the average of the two loadings to the premium. So a partner with no loading effectively halves the impact of a partner who has one — which is a real, if slightly unromantic, financial argument for a combined policy.
Usually, for equivalent cover. It is worth pricing both, particularly if the two of you want quite different levels of cover, since two well-chosen singles policies can occasionally beat one compromise couples policy.
On your combined income, assessed against the family threshold. Both of you need appropriate hospital cover for the whole year to be exempt. Check the current thresholds with the ATO.
The fund averages the two individual loadings and applies that to the premium, rather than adding them together.
Medicare Levy Surcharge thresholds and government rebate percentages are reviewed regularly, so this page does not quote them. For the current figures see the ATO and the government's privatehealth.gov.au.
