Under Lifetime Health Cover (LHC), you’ll pay a 2% loading on top of the normal premiums for each year you don’t have hospital cover, over age 31. This isn’t just with nib, but every health fund.
By joining a hospital cover by July 1st following your 31st birthday, and staying with it, you’ll avoid paying the 2% annual loading (it’s like being 31 forever). If you wait until you’re 40, you’ll pay 20% more than someone on the same cover who joined when they were 31.
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