Does Lifetime Health Cover loading apply to you?

What is Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading?

The Federal Government introduced the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading to encourage Australians to take out private hospital cover at a younger age and encourage them to maintain it. 

Does Lifetime Health Cover loading apply to everyone?

No, in some cases you may be exempt from LHC Lifetime Health Cover loading or fit into a special circumstances category. You may need to provide supporting documents to establish your LHC loading. Cases that may exempt you from LHC loading include:

• Are aged under 31 years old
•  Have held continuous hospital cover since 1 July 2000
•  Have held continuous hospital cover since turning 31 years old
• Have held continuous hospital cover within 1 year of becoming eligible for 
  Medicare
• Were born on or before 1 July 1934
• Were overseas at the time of your LHC base date and joined Hospital Cover 
  within 12 months of your return.
• Are a member of the Australian Defence Forces
• Are a Department of Veteran Affairs Gold Card Holder

Supporting documents required to establish your LHC loading

To confirm your eligibility or LHC status, you will need to provide specific documents.

For continuous hospital cover:

You will need to supply a Clearance Certificate from your previous fund. We can contact your previous fund to request this on your behalf when you 
share your previous cover details on your application to join HIF. Alternatively, you can complete and return our switching funds form at any time .

For overseas travel: 

You will need to supply an International Movement Record, which you can request from the Department of Home Affairs.

For Medicare eligibility date: 

You will need to supply your Medicare registration date letter; this document can be obtained from Medicare and is essential for determining your Lifetime Health Cover loading status.

How is Lifetime Health Cover loading applied?

In most cases, your Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) base day is the later of the 1 July following your 31st birthday, or the first anniversary of the date you became eligible for Medicare. If you join Hospital cover after your LHC base day, then for every year over the age of 30 that you don’t have private hospital cover, a 2% LHC loading is applied to the cost of your insurance (and increases each year until it reaches 70%).

Use our Lifetime Health Cover loading calculator to determine whether this applies to you and how much LHC loading could affect your premiums.

Calculate your LHC