You may have heard of the Federal Government Rebate on private health insurance. Here we explain how this rebate works, and with the Savings Provision Entitlement.
You may have heard of the Federal Government’s Private Health Rebate. Here we explain how this rebate works, and with the Savings Provision Entitlement.
Who is eligible for the Federal Government Rebate on Private Health Insurance?
The Federal Government Rebate on Private Health Insurance is available to anyone who is entitled to full Medicare benefits and holds private health insurance - no matter what your level of cover or income. The rebate is not available on overseas visitors products.
What Rebate am I entitled to?
The rebate has three levels and is calculated by the age of the oldest person on your health insurance membership.
| Age of oldest person on your membership |
Federal Government Rebate |
| 64 years or younger |
30% |
| 65 years - 69 years |
35% |
| 70 years or older |
40% |
How can I claim the Government Health Fund Rebate?
You can claim the Government Rebate in three different ways:
- as a reduction on your premium paid;
- as a refund from a Medicare office; or
- through your annual tax return.
What is the Savings Provision Entitlement?
The Savings Provision Entitlement is a special provision to ensure that people insured on a membership entitled to a rebate of 35% or 40% do not have their rebate reduced to 30% when the person aged 65 years or older leaves or cancels their membership.
How does the Savings Provision Entitlement work?
The Savings Provision Entitlement is triggered when the person who is 65 years or older leaves or cancels the original health insurance policy, for example, due to death, divorce or separation.
The original policy will then continue to receive the higher private health cover rebate. In addition, those members on the policy at the time the Savings Provision Entitlement is triggered, other than dependants (being anyone under the age of 21 and full time student dependents under the age of 25 years), will be entitled to receive the higher rebate if they switch to a single policy or even a different fund.
If a person on the policy aged 64 years or younger leaves the health insurance policy before the member aged 65 years and older, the Savings Provisions Entitlement will not be triggered and the person leaving the policy will revert to a private health cover rebate of 30%.
How do I lose the Savings Provision Entitlement?
If a policy is receiving the higher rebate as a result of a Savings Provision Entitlement, when another person, other than a child dependant, is added to this policy the Savings Provision Entitlement will be lost. The private health cover rebate entitlement for the policy will be recalculated based on the age of the oldest person on the health insurance policy.
When does the Savings Provision Entitlement not apply?
A child dependant is not entitled to take the Savings Provision Entitlement with them. This means if they take out their own health insurance policy, their private health rebate will revert back to the 30% rebate.
How do you retain the higher rebate when transferring to another fund?
If you believe the Savings Provision Entitlement applies to you and you are under 65 years old, you will need to request a Savings Provision Clearance Certificate from your previous health fund and provide this to your new health fund in order to retain the increased Government rebate when transferring.
To find out more information on the Federal Government Rebate on private health insurance or the Savings Provision Entitlement, simply call 134 135.
