What’s the best health insurance for optical cover? 

If you wear glasses or use contact lenses, you’ll know Extras Cover can be a handy way to bring down those costs. And even if you don’t need glasses right now, having optical cover can be useful as you age. Optometry Australia says our eyes lose the ability to focus on near objects from around age 40 onwards (known as presbyopia), making glasses incredibly beneficial.  Here’s how to find the best health insurance for optical cover, and how to make the most of your policy.  

What does health insurance for optical cover include?  

Optical cover comes under Extras Cover (not Hospital Cover), and it will allow you to claim for costs of contact lenses, glasses (both frames and lenses) and prescription sunglasses. It doesn’t cover the cost of a consultation with an optometrist and eye test – but in many cases that’s covered by Medicare. Ask your optometrist whether your appointment is eligible to be bulk-billed. 

What’s the best health insurance for optical? 

The best health insurance for optical is one that gives you back more than what you pay in premiums. We recommend totalling the amount you might spend on glasses and contact lenses each year. Then, look for an Extras Cover policy that will cost less than that, with annual claim limits that will meet your needs. Remember, your Extras Cover will probably also include dental treatment, so when you consider how much you spend on dental in a year, Extras premiums could provide even more value. 

What’s the best Extras Cover for dental?

How much should I get back on health insurance?

How much does health insurance for optical cost? 

We used the healthslips.com.au calculator – which searches every health insurance policy in Australia without commercial bias – to search for the cheapest Extras Cover that included optical for one adult in NSW. The cheapest health insurance for optical we found cost $16.15 a month with an annual limit of $180 and a 6-month waiting period, as at December 2025. By contrast, the most expensive policy cost $203.30 a month with an annual limit of $280 and a 2-month waiting period, as at December 2025. However, these policies both cover more than just optical. Before you choose an Extras policy, it’s a good idea to look at the treatments covered and work out how much you’ll get back versus how much you’ll spend on premiums on all of those treatments (e.g. physiotherapy, dental) including optical.  

5 ways to get the most out of Extras Cover

What are the waiting periods to claim on optical cover? 

While waiting periods on Hospital Cover policies are regulated by the government, insurers are allowed to set their own waiting periods for Extras Cover. Generally, you can expect at least a 2-month waiting period on a new Extras policy, but if you’re changing insurers to a new policy at a similar level of cover, you won’t have to re-serve waiting periods. Sometimes insurers waive waiting periods for Extras Cover as part of a promotion, so if you’re buying a new policy it’s a good idea to ask your insurer if it can offer any flexibility on waiting periods.  

How do I find the best health insurance for optical? 

Searching for health insurance can be time-consuming, but the healthslips.com.au calculator will do the job in minutes, and because it searches every single policy without any commercial bias, you can trust the results. Try searching for a new policy, or compare your current policy to others available. It’s free to use, and you can be totally anonymous. 

healthslips.com.au does not provide general or personalised advice. Your particular circumstances are likely to impact the accuracy, completeness and relevance of the information or results. Take this into account before making a decision and talk to an expert for financial advice.  

Trudie McConnochie

Writer and Researcher

Knowledge is power – that’s the guiding principle behind everything Trudie writes, and it’s a philosophy she brings to her work at healthslips.com.au. By breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand blogs and stories, she aims to empower Australians to make the best choices and an informed decision around private health insurance.

Trudie understands firsthand some of the complexity of private health insurance having moved to Australia from New Zealand and having to navigate a vastly different public healthcare system and health insurance structure.

Trudie holds a Bachelor of Communication Studies (journalism major) from the Auckland University of Technology.

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