Private Health Insurance and Tax??????

[Leonie P]

Does any one know exactly how the whole Private Health insurance for over 31's thing works.


My family currently does not have private health insurance. My DH is 33 and I am turning 31 in July. I have recently started to think about getting private health insurance for the whole tax thing, is there really that much of a benefit as we are rarely sick so wouldn't really need the insurance part.

[MantaRay]

There are two issues here Leonie. The age one is that once you are over 30, every year you go without PHI means an extra surcharge that you will have to pay on your premiums if you ever do take out PHI. This is to reduce the number of people who don't take out PHI until they are older and ill. For the system to work they rely on young, healthy people to have PHI to subside the others.

There is also the tax surcharge, which is once you earn a certain amount, you pay a medicare surcharge if you don't have PHI.