HCi Factsheet - health cover dependants
Making health insurance easy!
Who counts as a health cover dependant?
July 2024
Whilst you can have private health insurance as a single, you may want to include your partner and children on your policy. It’s generally more cost effective to have a family policy rather than multiple individual policies – less administration to manage, too!
The additional people listed on your policy as known as health care dependants or just dependants.
So who can I add as a health cover dependant?
Your HCi health cover can include you and your
- partner (married, de facto or same sex partner)
- minor children
- children 18 to 23 if they are not married or living with a partner
- children aged 23 to 31 (inclusive) if they meet relevant eligibility rules (see below)
- children with a disability aged 32 or older if they meet relevant eligibility rules (see below)
Note that ‘children’ includes any biological, adopted and step children for you and your covered partner.
Are my adult children eligible?
An eligible health cover dependant is required to be the child of a HCi member (or of the member’s partner), including step children and adopted children. The dependant must be primarily reliant on the HCi member for maintenance and support. Other than those with a disability, health cover dependents cannot have a spouse or be living in a de-facto relationship.
Your eligible dependent child can be covered on your family (or single parent) membership until they turn age 23, regardless of their student or employment status.
Their cover on that policy can then continue between 23 and 31 years of age (inclusive) if they are studying full-time (ie a dependent student), subject to providing us with a health care Dependants Declaration each year.
However, if they are aged between 23 and 31 years of age (inclusive), and not a full-time student, then they must also reside with the HCi member to remain eligible (ie a dependent non-student).
Effective from 1 September 2022, a dependent with a disability can now remain on your family policy, even after age 32, if they are participating in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and hold an active NDIS Plan.
What happens if my “health cover dependant” is not eligible?
If someone listed on your policy is not eligible, they are not covered for any claims. They need to be removed from your policy – which may just reduce your premiums, too. You can notify us of any changes in who is included in your policy via our policy update form.
When your dependant becomes ineligible, they can join HCi on their own policy. By starting their own cover within two months of becoming ineligible on your cover, they will not have to re-serve waiting periods for an equivalent or lower level of cover. HCi has a great range of products to suit a range of cover needs, including singles cover for young people.
* Proof of full time studies is required each year. Our dependants declaration makes it easy!
ADDING OR CONFIRMING A HEALTH COVER DEPENDANT
If your policy covers just you, you will need to contact us to upgrade to a couple, parent or family policy from the date you add a health cover dependant.
If you already have a single parent or family policy, you can add any new children by completing a form or contacting us directly. Letting us know within two months of a baby’s birth means the baby and member will have the same waiting periods.
Once your child reaches age 23, they may be eligible to remain on your policy but you need to declare their eligibility each year via our dependant registration form. We’ll send you a reminder each year.
HCi used its best endeavours to ensure this information was accurate at the time of publication. From time to time, circumstances relating to the subject matter may change which may impact the accuracy of the information. This information is also general in nature and does not take into account any specific health or financial situation. Before making any decisions in relation to this information, you should consider your own financial and health situation and seek professional advice. Health Care Insurance Ltd ABN 43 009 579 088. A Registered Private Health Insurer.
