Medicare covers you for hospital and medical costs in a public hospital as a public patient. You have no choice of doctor and will usually be treated in a shared ward. In many cases, especially for elective surgery, there may be a substantial waiting time for the type of treatment you need.

Instead, by taking out private health insurance with HCi, you can be sure you will have greater control over who, where and when you are treated if you or your family require hospital treatment. In most cases, the waiting time for elective surgery will be significantly less than the public system. HCi provides access to over 500 private hospitals and day hospital facilities and more than 30,000 doctors.

For those who are on high incomes, private health insurance also helps you avoid paying an additional Medicare Levy Surcharge.

The aim of the Federal Government’s Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) initiative is to encourage people to take out private health insurance hospital cover early in life. If you join earlier in life and continue private hospital cover, you will be rewarded with lower premiums than those who join later in life.

LHC is a financial loading that can be payable in addition to the base rate premium for your private health insurance hospital cover. To avoid paying a LHC loading, you need to purchase hospital cover by 1 July following your 31st birthday. If you purchase hospital cover after this date you may be required to pay a LHC loading – 2% for each year you are over 30. For instance, if you wait until you are 40, you could be paying an extra 20% on the cost of your hospital cover. If you wait until you are 50, you could pay 40% more. And so on, up to a maximum of 70%.