Why should you take up hospital cover before turning 31?  

Did you know that if you take out hospital cover before the 1st of July following your 31st birthday, you can avoid a Lifetime Health Cover loading being applied to your contributions?

Last year, changes were made to Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) effective from the 1st of July 2004.This created an annual standard birthday for people with hospital cover.

This means that new members purchasing hospital cover before the 1st of July following their 31st birthday will not incur a LHC loading. Those members who fail to purchase hospital cover before the 1st of July following their 31st birthday are considered late in taking out hospital cover and will therefore incur a LHC loading of 2% for each year they do not have hospital cover beyond their 31st birthday. The point here is, you will not incur a LHC loading if you take out hospital cover before the 1st of July following your 31st birthday.

For example, if you turned 31 on the 8th of July 2005, you have until the 30th of June 2006 to take out hospital cover and not incur a LHC loading. If the 1st of July following your 31st birthday has already passed, you will incur a LHC loading on top of your hospital cover premium. Remember a LHC loading of 2% will be applied to your contributions for each year you are aged above 30 when hospital cover is first taken out.

Importantly, people who were born on or before the 1st of July 1934 can join a registered health fund and take out hospital cover at any time and always qualify for the base rate.

Therefore, for those members approaching 31 who do not have hospital cover, we encourage you to review your options in order to avoid a LHC loading being applied to your hospital contributions in the future.