When will my premium change?

Your first premium payment on or after 1 April 2026 will be at your new amount. You don’t need to pay extra right now if you’ve already paid in advance. The new premium amount will be taken for all payments made on or after 1 April 2026. See more info below. 

How can I make sure my payment is adjusted?

It depends on how you pay your premiums, but we’ve pulled together a few tips to make sure you can easily update your payment amount.

• If you pay by direct debit, your new premium will automatically apply to all payments from 1 April 2026. We’ll organise this for you.
• If you pay via BPAY or payroll, you can make sure the correct amount is taken by adjusting the amount you pay us via BPAY or by speaking with your payroll team. We’re in touch with payroll groups, but it always pays to check your premium amount is adjusted.
• If you pay us directly, your new premium amount will appear on your payment notices for any contributions due from 1 April 2026.
• If you’ve already paid ahead in advance of 1 April 2026, your new rate will apply when you make your next payment. Any payments made before 1 April 2026 will be made at your current rate.

What is the Australian Government Rebate on private health insurance?

Eligible Aussies with private health insurance receive a rebate from the Australian Government to help cover the cost of their premiums. It’s the portion of your private health insurance the government pays for you and applies to both hospital and extras cover. It’s calculated based on your income, age and family status (the number of dependent children you have). Most people choose to receive their rebate as a reduction in their premiums. However, you can also choose to pay the full premium and claim the rebate at the end of the financial year as a tax offset.

There are a lot of specific rules that might impact your personal situation and we recommend you check the ATO website carefully to determine your own situation. We also have some information on our Incentives and Rebates page. If you’d like to change your rebate tier, or the way you currently claim the rebate, please just give us a call.

What will my email or letter include?

Your email or letter will include information about what your new premium will be from 1 April 2026, who’s covered by the policy and, if it applies, your Lifetime Health Cover loading. 

Your letter will also include your Private Health Insurance Statement (often called a PHIS – or ‘fizz’), which contains a general summary of product features and what’s covered, as well as any restrictions, waiting periods, exclusions, excesses and limits. 

It’s got lots of details that are important for you to check in on. Dollar amounts and the payment frequency on your PHIS may be different from the information we’ve provided. That’s because your PHIS doesn’t call out any government rebate, Lifetime Health Cover loading or discount that you may be claiming or paying. You can find more info about your PHIS and why you need one on our Stay Well hub.

What is the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading?

Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading is a government initiative created to encourage Aussies to take out and maintain private hospital cover earlier and ease the load on the public healthcare system.  This isn’t relevant if you’ve chosen extras only or ambulance only cover. If you take out hospital cover before you’re 31 and maintain it, you’ll enjoy paying your premium without any LHC loading. You just need to take out hospital insurance with an Australian registered health fund by 1 July following your 31st birthday and maintain it. For each year you wait after the age of 31, you’ll pay an extra 2% per year for your cover (up to 70%). If you get hospital cover some time after the age of 31, and you maintain it for 10 continuous years, the loading will be removed.  We also have some information on our Incentives and Rebates page.

We don’t want to keep you hanging…

At this time of year, we receive a very high volume of calls and there may be times when you’re on the line longer than usual. We never want to keep you waiting, so please know we’re doing everything possible to get to you. Our call-back option lets you keep your place in the queue, but instead of having to hold until it’s your turn, we call you back when you’re first in line, leaving you free to get on with other things.

You’ll hear more about using the call-back option once you’re on hold.