Aged 18-29? You could be eligible for a discount
ahm is stoked to be making hospital insurance more affordable for young Australians by offering a 'Youth Discount' on all hospital covers.
To be eligible to receive a Youth Discount, you have to be the Principal member or Partner on a hospital cover and aged between 18-29.
See ‘how big’ a Youth Discount you could get:
| Age at discount assessment date | % discount |
| 18 - 25 years old | 10% |
| 26 years old | 8% |
| 27 years old | 6% |
| 28 years old | 4% |
| 29 years old | 2% |
| 30 years old | 0% |
How is the Youth Discount calculated?
The Youth Discount is calculated on your base premium before the application of any Australian Government Rebate, Lifetime Health Cover loading and/or any other eligible discount.
The Youth Discount only applies to hospital cover or the hospital component of a package – it doesn’t apply to extras.
The Youth Discount doesn’t apply to persons aged under 18, regardless of whether or not they’re the Principal member or Partner on a hospital cover.
If you’re on a couple or family hospital cover, the Youth Discount is calculated by taking an average of the Youth Discount applied to the adults on the hospital cover. So, if the Principal member has a 10% Youth Discount and their partner has no discount, or 0%, the discount applied overall to the hospital cover is 5% (10% ÷ 2).
When does the Youth Discount apply?
This is also known as the ‘discount assessment date’.
If you were already a member and eligible for a Youth Discount, it was automatically applied to your hospital cover based on your age on 1 April 2019; there's nothing you needed to do.
If you didn't have hospital cover before 1 April 2019, don’t worry! If you take out hospital cover on or after 1 April 2019 and you’re eligible for a Youth Discount, ahm will apply the youth discount based on your age when you take out hospital cover on or after 1 April 2019.
Plus, if you’re transferring from another fund on or after 1 April 2019 and they gave you a Youth Discount, ahm will recognise it. We’ll just need your transfer certificate to confirm it. This is also sometimes referred to as a ‘retained age-based discount’.
Stick with us and your discount will be ongoing
If you maintain continuous hospital cover, the Youth Discount you received on 1 April 2019 or at the age you take out an eligible hospital product will continue to apply until you turn 41. From 41, if you maintain continuous hospital cover, your discount will reduce by 2% per year until it reaches zero.
Basically, the sooner you join ahm before you turn the big 3-0 the more you could save on hospital cover.
For independent private health insurance advice, visit privatehealth.gov.au.