Having appropriate private health insurance from an early age means you can avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS), avoid Lifetime Health Cover loading and likely get the Australian government health insurance rebate. If you earn over $93,000 as an individual or $186,000 as a family, you need to take out private health insurance to avoid being hit by the Medicare Levy Surcharge. This can be up to 1.5% of your income, depending on how much you earn. Lifetime health cover loading, meanwhile, affects people who do not take out private hospital insurance before they are 31. If you decide to take our cover at a later age, you will pay a loading fee. This is 2% for each year you did not hold cover from the 1st of July following your 31st birthday. So, if you are 35 when you decide to take out private health cover, you will pay a 10% loading fee. LHC is capped at 70%.