Hospital cover in Victoria: what each step up from Basic costs
The surcharge you avoid is a fixed sum for your income. Here is how far it goes at each hospital tier in Victoria.
The cheapest exempt cover costs less than the surcharge by
$561
Surcharge $1,688 against $1,127 of cover: ahm health insurance, ambulance hospital (basic) (Basic, $750 excess), $102.10 a month before rebate.
| Income tested: $135,000 | Tier 2, 1.25 % |
| Surcharge without cover, you | $1,688 |
| Cheapest exempt policy, full premium | $1,225 |
| Rebate (8.038 %) | -$98 |
| Net cost of the policy | $1,127 |
| Income from which cover is cheaper | $105,500 |
Premiums: PrivateHealth.gov.au file of 2026-10-01, 455 open policies that avoid the surcharge for this cover type in Victoria. Premiums change on 1 April 2027.
Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · thresholds read on ato.gov.au, premiums from privatehealth.gov.au data · not tax advice
A single Victorian on $135,000 of income for MLS purposes is in tier 2 for 2026-27 and would pay $1,688 of Medicare levy surcharge without hospital cover. The cheapest open policy that avoids it costs $102.10 a month before the rebate in the PrivateHealth.gov.au file of 1 October 2026, so $1,127 a year after the 8.038 % rebate. That leaves $561 of the surcharge unspent, and the question becomes how much better a policy that money buys. The cheapest Bronze Plus policy costs $1,412 net, the cheapest Silver Plus $1,848 and the cheapest Gold $2,743. The table below gives each tier at its cheapest and at its median price, and the full calculator above takes your own income and premium.
The ladder from Basic to Gold
| Tier | Cheapest per month | Net per year at $135,000 | Against the surcharge | Median per month | Policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $102.10 | $1,127 | $561 cheaper | $112.85 | 23 |
| Basic Plus | $110.33 | $1,218 | $470 cheaper | $126.45 | 55 |
| Bronze | $132.80 | $1,466 | $222 cheaper | $146.05 | 23 |
| Bronze Plus | $127.93 | $1,412 | $276 cheaper | $156.88 | 94 |
| Silver | $179.35 | $1,979 | $292 dearer | $204.60 | 16 |
| Silver Plus | $167.45 | $1,848 | $160 dearer | $266.95 | 203 |
| Gold | $248.55 | $2,743 | $1,055 dearer | $418.25 | 41 |
Read the fourth column as the extra you would pay, or keep, compared with paying the surcharge and holding no cover. At this income the four lower rungs, Basic to Bronze Plus, cost less than the tax at their cheapest. Silver and Silver Plus cost a few hundred dollars more, and Gold over a thousand more; the median Gold policy at $418.25 a month costs about 1.7 times its cheapest one. The cheapest Gold single policy in the state comes from Mildura Health Fund.
Test a Victorian premium
Paying the surcharge costs less than the cheapest cover by
$189
| Income tested: $135,000 | Tier 2, 1.25 % |
| Surcharge without cover, you | $1,688 |
| Your policy, full premium | $2,040 |
| Rebate (8.038 %) | -$164 |
Where the money goes at other incomes
The same ladder looks different on either side of $135,000. Just over the threshold, at $106,000, the surcharge is only $1,060 while the rebate is higher, 16.079 %, so the cheapest policy costs $1,028 and the margin above it is thin. In tier 3, at $180,000, the surcharge reaches $2,700 and there is no rebate at all: the cheapest Gold policy then costs $2,983, more than the surcharge. The page for $170,000 looks at the top tier in detail.
A loading changes every row. The Lifetime Health Cover loading is a percentage added to the hospital premium, and it is the same percentage on a Basic as on a Gold policy, so in dollars it is three times larger on Gold. Someone joining at 45 with a 30 % loading would add $895 a year to the cheapest Gold policy and $368 to the cheapest Basic one. See the loading page.
How to use the ladder
Start from the surcharge you would pay, since it is money you spend either way once you are over the threshold. Subtract the net cost of the cheapest policy: what is left is the budget for better cover that costs you nothing extra compared with doing nothing. At $135,000 that budget is $561 a year, about $47 a month, enough to reach the cheapest Bronze Plus policy in the table with room to spare. Beyond that, each step up is paid for by you, not by the tax you avoid. Two cautions apply. A tier name sets the floor of what a policy covers, so read the Private Health Information Statement of each candidate. And waiting periods, which the Ombudsman warns may apply again after a break in cover, are not modelled here.
Couples and families in Victoria
For two people the cheapest exempt policy is $204.20 a month and the cheapest Gold $497.10; for a family, $204.20 and $497.10. Their surcharge is tested on the combined income against the family threshold, so the ladder above applies with the household sum in place of a single income.
Sources: PrivateHealth.gov.au file of 1 October 2026 (data.gov.au); tiers: PrivateHealth.gov.au; thresholds and rebate: ATO. Naming a policy reports a price, not a recommendation. How the figures are built.