Health insurance terms explained

Excess

GMHBA’s range of hospital covers often feature an excess to let GMHBA members share some of the cost of hospital admissions in return for lower premiums. The excess is calendar year based. Read about this topic.

Waiting periods

A waiting period is the time between joining GMHBA and when you can start claiming. Waiting periods exist to protect members’ funds from those who wait until they are sick to join a health fund claiming large sums immediately. Read about this topic.

Medical gap cover

A schedule of fees has been set by the Federal Government for eligible services by doctors in a hospital or day surgery. Medicare pays 75% of this schedule fee for in-patient medical treatment and GMHBA pays the other 25% up to 100% of the Medical Benefit Schedule (MBS) fee. Read about this topic.

Lifetime Health Cover Loading

The Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading is a Government loading on your private health insurance hospital cover premiums. It was introduced on 1 July 2000 to encourage people to take out hospital cover earlier, and to maintain their cover. Read about this topic.

Medicare levy surcharge

The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is an additional tax which Australians may need to pay if they are without private health insurance hospital cover and have a taxable income greater than the base tier thresholds set by the Australian Government. Read about this topic.

Australian Government Rebate on private health insurance

This income-tested rebate is provided by the Australian Government to help people meet the cost of private health insurance. It can be claimed as a reduction on your health insurance premiums or as a refundable tax offset. Read about this topic.