Private Health Insurance

In Australia, there are 2 main types of private health insurance – Hospital Cover and Extras Cover.  Hospital Cover Hospital Cover helps you pay for the cost of treatment as a private patient in hospital.  It helps you cover the cost of being treated as a private patient in a public hospital, private hospital or...

The Australian government has designated 38 clinical categories for Hospital Cover: The Government also decides which treatments must be included under each clinical category. Insurers are not allowed to vary or exclude those treatments from their cover. When you get a quote for Hospital Cover, you cannot choose the clinical categories you want cover for....

Whether or not you take out Hospital Cover is a question to consider carefully. You may prefer to rely on the public health care system. As an Australian citizen or permanent resident with a Medicare Card, you are entitled to receive free health care in a public hospital. If you go into a public hospital...

How the Hospital Cover tiers work The difference between Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold Hospital Cover lies in the number of clinical categories each product tier offers: Clinical Category Basic Bronze Silver Gold Rehabilitation ✓ (R) ✓ (R)  ✓ (R) ✓  Hospital Psychiatric Services ✓ (R) ✓ (R) ✓ (R) ✓  Palliative Care ✓ (R)...

Sometimes, insurers include additional clinical categories in a Basic, Bronze and Silver Hospital Cover policy. When they do this, they are allowed to market it as a ‘Plus’ policy.  It is worth considering Basic Plus, Bronze Plus and Silver Plus Cover because they may offer clinical categories on an unrestricted basis or additional clinical categories....

The following steps can help you decide which Hospital Cover tier is best:

Yes. You can purchase Hospital-only Cover. Most private health insurers offer Hospital Cover, Extras Cover and combined cover (both Hospital Cover and Extras Cover).

Generally, private health insurers impose waiting periods before you can make a claim, when you take out Hospital Cover or upgrade your policy. Occasionally, insurers may waive waiting periods. Waiting periods are designed to ensure that individuals cannot make a large claim and then cancel their policy shortly after becoming members. Waiting periods vary depending...