The Risk Profile of Children
Most children are healthy. Serious health events (cancer, chronic disease) are rare in children — roughly 1 in 500 children will have a serious diagnosis before age 18. That makes children statistically low-risk for health insurance.
The common childhood health needs are: - ENT issues (grommets, tonsillectomy) - Minor surgery (hernia repair, removed moles) - Orthodontics (very common, insurance rarely covers) - Acute illness (usually recovers without specialist care)
These are relatively low-cost events that parents can often afford out-of-pocket.
The Serious Diagnosis Cost
The exception: if a child is diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, cardiac condition, or serious autoimmune disease, costs escalate dramatically.
A child diagnosed with leukaemia requires ongoing specialist management, potentially private consultations alongside public treatment, and psychological support. The non-Pharmac drug costs alone could reach $20,000+.
For most families, this would be financially catastrophic without insurance.
The Wait Time Advantage
Even for non-serious conditions, private access is valuable for children. A child with persistent ear infections waiting 8 weeks for public ENT assessment can have private assessment within days.
For children, the time cost is school attendance and educational impact. An 8-week wait for specialist assessment means 8 weeks of recurrent ear infections affecting school. This is where private access through insurance genuinely benefits children.
Adding Children to Parent Policies
Most insurers allow you to add children to your adult health insurance policy with no (or minimal) additional cost. A family plan costs roughly the same whether it covers 2 adults + 1 child or 2 adults + 2 children.
This makes children's coverage very cheap — often just $0-10/month to add them to your existing policy.
The Question: Include Children or Self-Fund
If children's coverage costs $10/month ($120/year) to add to your existing policy, it's worth adding.
If children's coverage costs $40/month ($480/year) as a separate policy for all children, you must calculate whether that's worth it.
Realistic children's healthcare spending: - Minor acute illness: $200-500/year (usually manageable out-of-pocket) - Scheduled procedures (grommets, etc.): $1,500-3,000 (significant but not catastrophic) - Serious diagnosis: $20,000-100,000+ (catastrophic without insurance)
The insurance is buying catastrophic protection against the 1 in 500 risk of serious diagnosis.
Our Recommendation
Add children to your existing policy if the cost is minimal (under $15/month per child). The catastrophic protection is worth the small additional premium. Don't pay $40/month per child for a separate policy — the maths rarely work out.