Medicare and private health insurance

As an Australian resident for tax purposes you are subject to the Medicare levy. The Medicare levy is in addition to the tax you pay on your taxable income, unless you qualify for a reduction or exemption. The Medicare levy helps fund some of the costs of Australia's public health system known as Medicare.

In addition to the Medicare levy, you may have to pay the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) if:

• you, your spouse or dependant children don’t have an appropriate level of private patient hospital cover, and
• your income is above a certain amount.

If you have a private health insurance policy, you may be able to get the private health insurance rebate.

In this section

Medicare levy
Find out about the Medicare levy and how you pay the levy

Medicare levy surcharge
Find out about the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) and check if you have to pay the MLS

Private health insurance rebate
Find out about the private health insurance rebate and if you are eligible to receive the rebate