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Is a Silver health insurance policy right for you?

We explain what Silver and Silver Plus hospital policies cover and what you can expect to pay.
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Last updated: 8 Mar 2024
silver tier hospital insurance

Our insurance experts have looked at Silver hospital insurance policies from over 40 health insurers to see which ones offer the best value. Work out whether you can secure cover that’ll save you money by comparing health insurance.

Need to know a bit more about what Silver insurance is first? We explain what’s covered under Silver hospital insurance, the differences between Silver and Silver Plus policies, and what you can expect to pay.

What is Silver health insurance?

Silver health insurance is a mid-level private hospital insurance that covers 26 categories of services in private hospital.

If you want an intermediate health insurance policy that covers you for most of the essentials and you don’t have any major health issues or you’re not planning to start a family, a Silver health insurance policy could work for you.

If you want cheaper health insurance, try Bronze or Basic policies. Or if you’re looking for higher cover, you might want Silver Plus or Gold health insurance.

Not sure what level of hospital insurance you need? Take our quick quiz.

What does Silver hospital insurance cover?

  • Heart and vascular surgery.
  • All cancer surgeries and chemotherapy and radiation.
  • Lung and chest surgeries.
  • Medically necessary plastic and reconstructive surgery.
  • Bone marrow transplants and other blood-related treatments.
  • Investigation and treatment for back, neck and spine problems such as for sciatica and scoliosis.
  • Dental surgery (wisdom teeth and dental implants in hospital).
  • Implantation of hearing devices.
  • Accommodation in hospital for podiatric surgery.
  • Skin-related procedures including treatments for lesions and abscesses, and allergy skin-prick testing.
  • Broken bones and other bone, joint and muscle treatments including joint reconstructions (but not replacements).
  • Endoscopy and colonoscopy plus other digestive system procedures including removal of gallstones or haemorrhoids.
  • Gynaecology, miscarriage, and termination of pregnancy, sterilisation (male and female).
  • Ear, nose and throat surgery including tonsils, adenoids, and grommets.
  • Hernia and appendix surgery.
  • Diabetes management in hospital (but not implanted insulin pumps).
  • Brain and nervous system treatments including for stroke, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
  • Palliative care, rehabilitation and psychiatric care (covered in a public hospital only).
Read more:
The good and the bad of Medibank, Bupa, HBF, HCF and NIB

What is Silver Plus health insurance?

A Silver Plus policy is a level up from Silver but is cheaper than the top-tiered Gold. Silver Plus policies cover the above 26 Silver-level services in private hospital plus at least one of the below treatments not covered in Silver:

  • IVF, pregnancy and birth
  • joint replacements
  • cataracts
  • rehabilitation
  • hospital psychiatry
  • palliative care
  • gastric banding and obesity surgery
  • insulin pumps
  • sleep studies
  • dialysis
  • pain management with a device (for example, a surgically implanted device to manage pain caused by heart disease).

If you want cover for a specific treatment in the above list, such as pregnancy, you might be able to buy a Silver Plus policy. If you need more cover, you’ll need to opt for a Gold policy with all the bells and whistles.

CHOICE tip: We’ve found in many states that Silver Plus policies are actually cheaper than Silver policies that cover fewer treatments.

How much is Silver health insurance?

Silver and Silver Plus health cover for a family policy with a $750 excess costs on average about $320 for Silver and $410 for Silver Plus (without the health insurance rebate). The cost varies depending on which state you live in, how much you earn, the level of excess, and when you first bought health insurance.

What is a health insurance excess?

An excess is an amount you pay as a contribution when you go to hospital. The higher your excess is, the lower your monthly premium will be.

You’re better off with an excess if you’re healthy and don’t plan to go to hospital anytime soon, but consider a low or no excess option if you think you’ll go to hospital sooner rather than later.

Read more:
Dump these overpriced Silver Plus health insurance policies

CHOICE health insurance reviews

Wondering whether you’re overpaying for private health insurance? We’ve built a tool that lets you compare thousands of health insurance policies from over 40 health insurers (see the full list of below). 

Our experts rate policies based on out-of-pocket costs, fund complaints, price and more, and we’re 100% independent, which means we don’t show sponsored results like other comparison sites. 

Some people will save over 30 times the cost of a quarterly CHOICE membership by using our tool to find a cheaper health insurance policy. Joining CHOICE also means you’ll get access to our other recommendations and could stand to save money across a range of household products and services you use every day.

While our reviews are for members, we’ve got lots of helpful free health insurance content (like advice from our experts, explainer articles and buying guides) to help you better understand your options.

Health funds included in our review

With our health insurance tool you can compare policies from over 40 health insurers:

  1. AAMI 
  2. ACA 
  3. AHM 
  4. AIA 
  5. Apia
  6. Australian Seniors
  7. Australian Unity
  8. Bupa
  9. CBHS Corporate
  10. CBHS
  11. Defence Health 
  12. Doctors’ Health 
  13. Emergency Services Health
  14. Frank
  15. GMHBA
  16. HBF
  17. HCF
  18. HCi
  19. HIF
  20. Health Partners
  21. Hunter Health
  22. ING
  23. Latrobe
  24. Medibank
  25. Mildura
  26. onemedifund
  27. Navy Health
  28. NIB
  29. Nurses & Midwives Health
  30. Peoplecare
  31. Phoenix
  32. Police
  33. Priceline
  34. Qantas
  35. Queensland Country
  36. Reserve Bank
  37. Real Insurance
  38. RT health
  39. see-u
  40. St.Lukes Health
  41. Suncorp
  42. Teachers Health
  43. Territory Health Fund
  44. Transport Health
  45. TUH
  46. UniHealth
  47. Union Health
  48. Westfund
Uta

I've been at CHOICE for over 20 years, starting as a research assistant and nowadays a senior content producer in the money and travel team. I am originally from Germany and my background is in journalism; I started in my teens at my local paper and then studied journalism in Germany and Australia. I hold a Master in History and Politics from the Technical University of Berlin, a Graduate Certificate in Journalism from UTS and a Certificate IV in Financial Advising from the Securities Institute in Sydney. Over the years I have worked on all types of financial topics – from credit cards to reverse mortgages and kids bank accounts. My main interest and expertise is in health insurance and I am member of the government health insurance website reference group of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.    I love working at CHOICE because I feel that we can make a real difference helping consumers to get a fair go. You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I've been at CHOICE for over 20 years, starting as a research assistant and nowadays a senior content producer in the money and travel team. I am originally from Germany and my background is in journalism; I started in my teens at my local paper and then studied journalism in Germany and Australia. I hold a Master in History and Politics from the Technical University of Berlin, a Graduate Certificate in Journalism from UTS and a Certificate IV in Financial Advising from the Securities Institute in Sydney. Over the years I have worked on all types of financial topics – from credit cards to reverse mortgages and kids bank accounts. My main interest and expertise is in health insurance and I am member of the government health insurance website reference group of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.    I love working at CHOICE because I feel that we can make a real difference helping consumers to get a fair go. You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Jodi

I manage CHOICE's Money and Travel team. We look after health, home, car, travel and pet insurance reviews plus all the travel content. I studied a Bachelor of Commerce Majoring in Economics and worked in finance for many years in Sydney, London, Amsterdam and Switzerland before I joined CHOICE in 2012. So I've done plenty of travel and I'm no stranger to playing with numbers. I like breaking down complex consumer decisions about financial services into easy to understand steps, and comparing all the products to find the best in the market. Especially when the best products are cheaper than those that aren't so good. We see that a lot. I also really like holding companies to account for failing their customers. Unfortunately we also see a lot of that. From timeshares to airlines, funeral insurance and poor financial advice. You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I manage CHOICE's Money and Travel team. We look after health, home, car, travel and pet insurance reviews plus all the travel content. I studied a Bachelor of Commerce Majoring in Economics and worked in finance for many years in Sydney, London, Amsterdam and Switzerland before I joined CHOICE in 2012. So I've done plenty of travel and I'm no stranger to playing with numbers. I like breaking down complex consumer decisions about financial services into easy to understand steps, and comparing all the products to find the best in the market. Especially when the best products are cheaper than those that aren't so good. We see that a lot. I also really like holding companies to account for failing their customers. Unfortunately we also see a lot of that. From timeshares to airlines, funeral insurance and poor financial advice. You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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