The Lifetime Health Cover loading (LHC loading) is an extra cost applied to the price of hospital
insurance, which makes
it more expensive. It only affects people 31 or older who don’t have hospital insurance and decide to buy it
later
in life. It’s designed to encourage people to buy hospital insurance earlier in life and stay covered.
To avoid the loading, all you need to do is
buy hospital insurance on or before 1 July following your 31st birthday.
There are special circumstances where you’d be exempt from the LHC loading; head to the
Private Health Insurance Ombudsman to find out more.
How is the LHC loading calculated?
For every year over the age of 30 you don’t have hospital insurance, the price goes up 2%. The loading goes up
to a
maximum of 70%. Basically, if you buy hospital insurance after you turn 31, it could be more expensive than if
you’d
bought it earlier in life.
To
calculate your loading,
head to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman for a loading estimate.
To find out more about
how the LHC loading works, head to the ATO’s website.
FAQs