In Australia there are two groupings for health insurance.
1) Hospital Cover
2) Extra’s Cover
Each grouping is entirely separate and should be treated as such. There are also implications for tax which will be discussed.
Hospital Cover
Generally in Australia when someone discusses health insurance requirements they really mean hospital cover. For example, when you see a health insurance requirement for a visa such as the “457 visa” or the “485 visa” they really mean you need to have the right level of hospital cover. The same is true for tax. In Australia when you earn over a certain level you get taxed more unless you have ‘hospital cover’. This hospital cover covers an individual for both hospital stays and some of the costs of doctors. It should be noted that medicare covers many doctor’s fees (or a portion of them) when a person is covered under that scheme. It would be fair to say that hospital cover is generally a ‘just in case’ policy which is needed when you have an accident or health concern.
Extras’s Cover
Unlike hospital cover, extra’s covers the areas that we are more likely to make claims on more often. It therefore covers areas such as dental, optical and chiro. Depending on the policy it can also cover areas such as remedial massage and naturotherapy. This type of cover is policy in Australia due to its high use but it does not help an individual meet their health insurance requirements legally. For 457 visa health insurance generally this option only exists on higher end products.
In Australia, most individuals choose to have a policy that has both hospital and extra’s. This gives the best of both worlds with piece of mind and elements that the individual will regularly make claims on!