A Guide to Private Health Treatment in Australia

If you do qualify for free or subsidized health care under Australia's national public health service, called Medicare, then you will need to have private health insurance. Even if you do qualify for Medicare you may still want to take out private health insurance so that you can have access to private health care facilities and treatment that are not covered under the Medicare system. With private health insurance you will also be able to get services and treatment at public hospitals and clinics as well.

Under the Australian private health insurance scheme there are two different basic types of insurance. There is hospital and there is ancillary insurance. Under the hospital coverage the costs of any inpatient treatment and accommodations are covered for you as a private patient. This can be in either a public hospital or a private hospital. And under the ancillary coverage outpatient services and treatment that are not covered by Medicare are covered. This includes acupuncture, dental treatment, chiropractic services and other alternative therapies, eyeglasses and contact lenses. Depending on your level of coverage, your ancillary coverage may also include coverage for ambulance services, in home nursing help or other in home services and other services. Two things that are not covered are x-rays and prescription medication.

While the ancillary insurance coverage does cover a lot of things there are yearly payment limits imposed per visit and per year. Sometimes you may also have a coverage policy that has a a fit and wellness policy included. These types of addendum policies provide coverage for gym memberships and sports equipment including running shoes.

Each state has private health insurers but the largest are the Hospital Contribution Fund, or HCF, the Medical Benefits Fund, or MBF, Medibank Private and National Mutual Health Insurance. The premiums for coverage tend to vary with the average cost for 100 percent hospital coverage for a family being around $1,700. And the average for ancillary coverage of 100 percent for a family is around $1200. If you are single you can expect rates to be around $800 for hospital and around $600 for ancillary coverage. Premiums can be paid monthly, quarterly or yearly with a discount for paying yearly.

Beware that there can be a lot of expensive out of pocket expenses with private health insurance. There are also expensive excess charges if you go over your annual limit.

When you sign up for private health coverage you can expect a standard two month waiting period before you can seek treatment. And there is a nine month waiting period for pregnancy benefits. If you have existing conditions there is a one year waiting period for those.