What are the health cover options for single parents?

You can choose to purchase single health cover just for yourself and avoid the extra cost of private health insurance for your children. This is the most economical option available and offers the benefits under lifetime health cover and enables you to avoid the 1% Medicare Levy Surcharge.

Healthy children are generally very low users of private health care and many parents are content with using Medicare coverage and, if they need private health services for their children, paying for it directly without medical insurance.

If you want private health cover for your children as well as for yourself, but not for an adult partner, some health insurance companies offer discounted rates for single parents. The discount is usually between 15% and 25% on the full family rates.

Single parent cover is an economical option if you are planning to have a baby and you want private health insurance for the mother and children, but not for the father. Newborn babies do sometimes need very expensive health care, especially if they are premature.

To make sure you are getting the very best Health cover for you money, go to www.ozecover.com.au. We search and compare every Australian health insurance company and product for you at no charge.

What Does Private Health Insurance Cost?

Private health insurance is not cheap, and full cover for a family would cost as much as $3,000 to $4,000 a year. However, there are a number of ways of reducing these costs.

Firstly, the Commonwealth Government provides a rebate as a proportion of the total premiums paid for appropriate private health insurance. The proportion is 30% if the oldest person covered is less than 65 years of age, 35% if they are between 65 and 70 years of age, and 40% if they are over 70 years of age. This rebate is available even if you do not pay income tax. Your health insurer will claim the rebate on your behalf, and will bill you just the net amount. Your insurer will also adjust the rebate (thereby reducing your net premium) as you pass the age thresholds for the higher rebates.

Secondly, if you have a taxable income above a threshold amount - $70,000 a year for individuals and $140,000 a year for families - you must pay a 1% Medicare Levy Surcharge. However you can avoid this tax with suitable private hospital cover and, if you do so, the reduction in your tax is worth at least $700 a year for individuals and at least $1,400 a year for families.

These two Government incentives are added together. For example, if you are a single person under 65 years of age earning a taxable income of $110,000 a year, a premium of $2,000 a year for private health insurance will attract a rebate of $600 (ie 30% of the premium) and, if it includes suitable hospital cover, will eliminate your Medicare Levy Surcharge of $1,100 (ie 1% of $110,000), leaving a net cost to you of $300 a year.

Thirdly, if you are basically a healthy person and rarely go to hospital, then you can avoid cover which is too expensive for your needs and which you are unlikely to use, and you can reduce your premiums with deductibles, copayments and exclusions.

To compare private health insurance and find the best and cheapest option for you and your family you can go to www.ozecover.com.au. The service costs you nothing and its the only one that compares every health insurer and every product in Australia based on your answers to some simple questions.

What are the benefits of private health insurance?

Over 11 million Australians, more than half the population, have private health insurance in addition to cover from Medicare.

In surveys by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the main reasons people give for having private cover are to avoid hospital waiting lists, to have a choice of doctors in hospital, and for general peace of mind.

Also, the Commonwealth Government offers a number of "sticks and carrots" to encourage you to have private health cover, as follows:

• you get a rebate of at least 30% (more if you are over 65) of all your premiums for private hospital and "extras" cover
• you avoid a 1% Medicare Levy Surcharge payable when your taxable income is over $70,000 (single) or $140,000 (family), provided you have suitable hospital cover, and
• you establish an entry age that limits age-related premium loadings under Lifetime Health Cover, once you take out private hospital cover.