What to Look for in a Quality Health Insurance Policy
Published March 31, 2026
Time is ticking until the annual health insurance premium hike rolls in for another year. If you have not yet shopped around, it is not too late. Here is everything you should know to help you find a good health insurance policy in Australia. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Aussies make the switch to a new health insurance policy. It is normally to avoid the annual premium hike and snag a better policy. But what does good really mean? Here is how to get the best of both worlds: a policy that not only costs less but offers more.
Before we get into it, we should note that what we consider to be good varies from person to person. However, we have some tips and tricks to help you narrow down what we consider to be a good value.
Look for value for money
This one might seem obvious, but it is worth checking what exactly you are getting with your policy and if it is any good when compared to another similar policy.
Still want to get under the skin of your health cover? Here’s a few pointers to know what to look for:
- Look at “Plus” policies when it comes to hospital cover. Insurers have a bit more leeway as to what exactly is included in this level of cover and will tailor these to different life stages. So one insurer’s Silver Plus might include cataracts and joint replacements, but no pregnancy cover, while the next insurer’s Silver Plus might include the opposite.
- Do you get a fixed amount back on your extras or a percentage of the cost? If it is the former, this will not increase as the cost of treatment increases. So the longer you’ve had your extras cover, the less value you are actually getting back.
- Are you over-insured on your extras? It’s one thing to pay for high annual limits. It’s another thing entirely to actually use them. So if you can smash through your allocated extras rebates over the course of the year, you’re going a long way to offset the cost of the policy. If you don’t even come close to touching those limits, you can probably save money by looking for a lower value policy.
Quick money saving tips
Ok, here are four tips to knock money off your premium.
Tip 1: consider increasing your excess – the amount you’ll pay if you need to be treated in hospital – to reduce your premiums. The only catch here is that if you need to go to hospital for a procedure, you will need to pay that out-of-pocket. So it’s up to you to weigh up if that’s good value or not.
Tip 2: when switching policies – if financially doable – consider paying your premiums upfront for the year. Not everybody has a spare few thousand lying around, but if you do, most insurers charge less if you pay annually instead of monthly.
Tip 3: Switch before 1 April. If you have already secured a policy, you can avoid a price hike if you’re comfortable paying a higher excess. There’s a saving of several hundred dollars to be had, as you’re locking in at a fixed amount for 12 months, thus avoiding the price hike.
Tip 4: Find a policy that’s offering 6 weeks free if you switch. This isn’t a reason to switch to a particular insurer, but if you’re already happy with a policy that’s right for you, you’ve just saved yourself several hundred dollars in monthly premium.
Using these tips, you can save a lot of money, particularly if you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t need to utilize hospital services in the year you’ve prepaid for.
In a Nutshell,
So, if you are ready to take on the premium price rise, now is the time to think about your health cover. Make sure you are getting value for money and a policy that will give you the right kind of cover for your stage of life. You may also want to think about the health fund’s private hospital network and gap cover arrangements to help manage out-of-pocket expenses. Having trouble finding the right health insurance? Let our experts at Utility Market do the hard work for you!
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