Okay, so you’re young, not even thinking about starting a family yet, and apart from a few bumps and bruises along the way you’re otherwise in pretty good shape. Right? Good. Chances are you’re not going to need a hip replacement in a hurry.
Take a look at the following data, though. It displays how many Australians are covered by private health insurance as of 2015 – a national average, according to a survey conducted by IPSOS. Next to that big bar graph, is how many young singles and young couples are covered.
Source: IPSOS Health Care & Insurance Australia 2015 report results
It’s quite the gap, isn’t it?
For roughly $17 per week, you could have basic insurance cover. Isn’t that worth it when one little stumble could not only leave you broken and sore, but also out of pocket?
Say you go surfing. You come off your board and smack your shoulder hard into a sandbar – dislocating it. It’s painful enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, but it may not be high enough a priority to jump to the top of the waiting list to get it popped back into place. If you’re covered by private health cover, you can skip public queues and jump straight into treatment in a private hospital. You know what that means? Less waiting (potentially), and you could get back in shape faster.
Could it happen to you? Absolutely. Here’s how many young Australians ended up in the emergency department in 2014/2015, according to the AIHW.
Source: Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, Emergency department care, 2015–16, page 20
That’s pretty high for young Australians.
Insurance is also useful in cases where you might need treatment from a specialist doctor. For instance, if you wound up in the emergency room in a hospital, Medicare may cover you for your initial treatment while admitted, but if you were later required to seek specialist treatment, you may be left out of pocket without relevant health insurance. Say goodbye to treatment from that dream surgeon who works wonders on surfers’ shoulders!
Extras cover also helps pay your bills for certain things that Medicare doesn’t cover, like dental, optical, physiotherapy and more. Look at it this way: you can grab a new pair of trendy sunnies each year, and your insurer helps cover the cost (if not the entire thing).
One thing we hear from many young Australians is “I can’t afford health insurance”. Sure, you may be studying, or just starting out in your career, and you may not be earning big dollars yet. To you, we say this:
Everyone’s situation is different. Being able to choose the right level of hospital cover and extras that fit your lifestyle (and budget) is important. That’s why we’ve taken some of the drama out of shopping online for health insurance, and given you the ability to compare a range of cover options – all in the one place.
If money is a concern, simply strip out features you don’t think you’ll use from our comparison. Now, get shopping!
Determining what type and level of cover you need from your health insurance can be hard, but there are three options for you to choose from, including:
Should you opt for hospital cover or extras only cover? Or maybe you should go all-in and get a bundle policy which covers you for both hospital and extras? Read on to help you make the right decision.
If you look again at The Private Health Insurance Membership and Benefits publication report by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in September 2017, the majority of singles (2,658,182) opted for hospital and extras combo cover, while 562,462 singles chose extras only cover, and only 2,812 singles purchased hospital only cover.
Are health insurance premiums cheaper for young single males or young single females? Although other types of insurance, like car insurance, life insurance, and even income protection insurance may have a disparity in premium prices between woman and men, health insurance premiums are usually the same for both genders.
If you were to compare health insurance right now for a young single female and a young single male, most insurance providers will offer equal costs for premiums of the same policies, no matter your gender. The only difference you may find between young females or males seeking and comparing health insurance is a variance in recommended policies to cater for your own personal health needs.
Here’s to gender equality in health insurance!
A young single parent can get singles private health insurance for themselves, however this won’t cover your child or children for any private medical expenses.
Young single parents can also opt for a single parent family policy, which covers the parent and any dependent children with private health insurance. Covering your children with a single parent family policy may cost a bit more than a singles policy would, but sometimes it’s worth your kid’s health to have them covered with you.
While this might mean that a single parent might pay more than what they would regularly pay on a singles insurance policy, single parents with a single parent family policy will also generally fall under the families health insurance bracket/tier for tax purposes. This means that if they earn under $180,000 in the financial year, they won’t be charged the Medicare Levy Surcharge and will still be eligible for the Australian Government Private Health Insurance Rebate.
Being single can be one of the best times of your life, or it can be one of the most challenging times, but life usually changes and so do health insurance,.
When you are no longer young or single, you may need to look at our other pages where you can get a range of information and compare policies for couples health insurance, family health insurance, or even seniors health insurance.
Couples health insurance usually isn’t any cheaper or expensive than singles insurance, but the added benefit is that it’s just easier sometimes for some couples to share everything – even their health insurance policy. Covering both partners under one policy and provider means it is easier to keep on top of payments and benefits, and gives the added advantage of knowing you’re both covered for the same things when you need to use your health insurance.
Compare the Market can help you compare and find health insurance policies that suit you while you’re young and single – or at any life stage.
