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🇦🇺 Australia only · 2026-27 rates
Is Private Health Insurance Worth It?
Not a sales pitch. The real Medicare Levy Surcharge, Lifetime Health Cover loading, and government rebate math — so you can see the actual dollar verdict for your income, age and family situation.
Income for MLS purposes = taxable income + reportable fringe benefits + reportable super contributions + net investment losses. Usually the same as taxable income for most people.
Cover details
Considering joining
Already have cover
We use your current age as the hypothetical sign-up age, to show what joining today would cost.
No hospital cover
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Medicare Levy Surcharge
With hospital cover
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Net premium after rebate
// the honest verdict
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Adjust your details above.
Lifetime Health Cover loading by the age you first sign up — 2% per year over 30, capped at 70%, removed after 10 continuous years of cover.
🩺 Need medical guidance, not just the numbers? Our sister site
askmygp.com.au connects you with a GP for health questions this calculator can't answer.
⚠️ General information only — not financial, tax or health advice. Rates shown reflect 2026-27 Medicare Levy Surcharge income thresholds (effective 1 July 2026) and the Australian Government Rebate percentages current from 1 April 2026 (indexed annually, next change 1 April 2027). Rebate and MLS both use "income for surcharge purposes," which can differ from your taxable income — see the ATO's Private Health Insurance Rebate Calculator for your exact figure. Lifetime Health Cover loading follows the 2% per year over 30 rule (base day: 1 July following your 31st birthday), capped at 70%, removed after 10 continuous years of hospital cover. This tool compares dollar cost only — it does not weigh non-financial factors like public hospital wait times, choice of specialist, or private room availability, which are legitimate reasons to hold cover even where the pure math favours going without. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.
How this calculator works
Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS): if your income for MLS purposes is above the threshold for your family status and you do not hold an appropriate hospital policy, you pay an extra 1–1.5% of that income as tax, on top of the standard 2% Medicare levy. The threshold rises by $1,500 per dependent child after the first.
Government rebate: the more you earn, the smaller the percentage of your premium the government covers — down to 0% above the Tier 3 threshold. Rebate percentage also rises with age (a higher rate from 65, higher again from 70). The rebate does not apply to any Lifetime Health Cover loading portion of your premium.
Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading: if you do not hold hospital cover by 1 July following your 31st birthday, a 2% loading is added to your premium for every year over 30 you wait to sign up, capped at 70%. It disappears after 10 continuous years of cover. This tool models the loading you would face signing up at the age you specify.
The breakeven premium is the exact premium at which the net cost of cover equals your Medicare Levy Surcharge liability — below that number cover wins on pure dollars; above it, paying the surcharge is cheaper.
What is the Medicare Levy Surcharge?
An extra tax (1–1.5% of your income) charged to higher-income Australians who do not hold private hospital cover. It sits on top of the standard 2% Medicare levy that almost everyone pays, and only kicks in above the income thresholds shown in this calculator.
What is Lifetime Health Cover loading?
A permanent-feeling (though not actually permanent) penalty for joining private hospital cover later in life. It adds 2% to your premium for every year past age 30 that you wait, up to a cap of 70%. It disappears entirely once you have held continuous cover for 10 years — but until then, waiting longer only makes it more expensive to ever join.
Does this calculator account for everything?
It accounts for every dollar in the tax and rebate system — MLS, LHC loading, and the income-tested rebate. It does not, and cannot, put a dollar value on shorter wait times, choice of doctor, or private hospital rooms. If those matter to you, they are a legitimate reason to hold cover even when the pure math says otherwise.