What is LHC loading and how much could it cost you?

Lifetime Health Cover loading is one of the least understood parts of Australia's health insurance system — and one of the most expensive if you ignore it.

The basics

LHC loading is a government surcharge applied to your hospital cover premium if you take out private hospital cover after the age of 31. For every year after 31 that you delay, an additional 2% loading is permanently added to your base premium — up to a maximum of 70%.

So if you take out hospital cover at 40, you'll pay 18% more than someone who took out the same policy at 30 — for the rest of your life (or until you've held cover for 10 continuous years).

A real example

Say a comparable hospital policy costs $1,800/year at base rate:

How to remove the loading

Once you hold continuous hospital cover for 10 years, your LHC loading is removed entirely. That means if you start now, even with loading, you can eventually get back to the base rate — and you're building towards that from day one.