Private health insurance

Private health insurance policies cover some of the costs of treatment in a private hospital. Insurance can also help cover 'extras' – other medical services such as dental, physiotherapy, optical and more. Find out how Health helps to improve the value of private health insurance for people.

Learn about private health insurance

Find out about private health insurance — what is it, why have it, how it works.

Understand private health insurance reforms

Reforms are happening to make private health insurance simpler and more affordable.

What is covered by private health insurance?

Private health insurance provides cover for health care not covered by Medicare.

Compare private health insurance policies

Use this online tool to select and compare private health insurance policies.

Our role in hospital care

Learn about funding and support for public and private hospitals in Australia, including how to become a declared hospital and data reporting requirements.

Rules for insurers and providers

What insurers offer and how they communicate with policy holders is governed by Australia's private health insurance laws. Insurers, private hospitals and medical device sponsors must also comply with certain processes. 

The Prostheses List

Private health insurers are required to pay benefits for the products listed on the Prostheses List. Find out what the Prostheses List includes, when we update it, and how to apply to list products on it or change current listings.

Updates for private health insurers

Read the latest private health insurance (PHI) circulars for updates on matters affecting private health insurers.

You can access PHI circulars published between 2010 and 2018 through Trove on the National Archives of Australia's site.

Private health insurance circulars

Resources

Resources

List of declared hospitals

The Minister for Health and Aged Care must declare a facility to be a hospital under section 121–5(6) of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007. View the current list of declared hospitals.

HCP annual report 2022-23 – updated

This preliminary annual report of Hospital Casemix Protocol (HCP) data outlines health statistics received from private health insurers detailing information relating to patient, medical and financial data for the 2022–23 financial year.

PHDB annual report 2022-23 – updated

This updated annual report of Private Hospital Data Bureau (PHDB) data outlines health statistics received from private hospitals detailing information relating to patient data for the 2022–23 financial year.