We've got mid level hospital cover and the basic extras with Medibank Private and pay about $225 a month. It is a lot of money.

When we decide we're done having babies we will drop our hospital back to the basic level (only put it up to mid level to cover OB's). I too have wondered if it is really worth the expense at times... But because they have the lifetime healthcover (or whatever it's called) if you become a member before you're 30 and stay a member, you will never pay premiums any higher than what a 30 year old would pay. Because we're over 30, if we leave for a year or and then join up again our premiums will get higher and higher each year as we get older. But if we stick with it, they'll stay at relatively the same level. For me that was the clincher.

Olive, who are you with? that sounds like a great rate! I've been to iselect a couple of times, but always found that the plans they recommend are more expensive than what we've got