Thought I’d share a small observation for anyone who, like me, stayed loyal to one insurer for a very long time because we sometimes do not look too deeply on expenses after everything that goes in life.
I was with Medibank for more than 22 years straight, most of those years on couples cover. I never really thought much about it and just kept auto-renewing every year.
Late last year I decided to experiment with switching insurers when promotions appeared, just to see how it worked.
Here is what happened.
Bupa
- Joined: 27 Oct 2025
- Premiums paid: $1,096.94
- Promotion received: ~$700 Everyday Rewards
- Net cost: $396.94
Medibank
- Joined: 10 Feb 2026
- Payment: $521.13
- Includes: 42 paid days + 42 free days
- Plus: 30,000 Live Better points (~$200) to be used to extend cover by ~16 days
Coverage runs roughly 10 Feb → ~21 May 2026.
Total coverage period:
27 Oct 2025 → ~21 May 2026 (about 207 days)
Total cash paid:
$396.94 + $521.13 = $918.07
That works out to roughly:
- $62 per fortnight
- ~$4.40 per day
For comparison, if I had simply stayed with Medibank at normal premiums for that same period, the cost would have been roughly $2,500+.
So the switching promotions reduced the effective cost by about $1,600+ over ~7 months.
Not posting this to brag – honestly I just never realised how much I was leaving on the table by staying with one insurer for decades. Thought the numbers might help someone else who is curious about how these switching deals actually work in practice. I hope it might help someone to take the initiative to do their own research to start churning.
Private health cover sure is a rip off.