Settlement Guide: Is private health insurance worth it?

Medicare is Australia’s universal health insurance system, guaranteeing all Australians access to health services. Yet more than half of all Australians have private health insurance. While many buy it to avoid long wait in government hospitals or to access services like dental care, others do it for tax benefits.

Over 50 per cent of all Australians have private health insurance. But experts say not everyone uses it to pay for the cost of their medical treatment. Source: Getty Images/Ariel Skelley