Australia's leading 457 visa resource comparing key services from 457 visa health insurance to bank accounts.
When applying as a couple for an Australian working visa you need overseas health insurance. The policy needs to meet Department of Immigration & Citizenship requirements.
Find the best couples overseas visitor health insurance in two easy steps.
Meets Overseas WorkerPublic Hospital AccommodationPrivate Hospital AccommodationOut Patient Following HospitalisationVisits To A GPMedical Repatriation CoverMaternity Services Emergency Ambulance CoverExtra’s Cover (eg Dentist)Other important elements
This policy is a good match for this health insurance item
This policy only covers some areas of this health insurance item
This policy does not offer this medical cover element
Couples looking the the cheapest way to meet their visa condition 8501 requirement should choose HIF Basic Working Visa Cover.
This policy had following five key strengths including:
The largest negative of the policy is that you can’t be treated in a private hospital and must stay within a shared room. Another key element to consider when choosing this policy is there is a $500 excess per admission. This means that if you have multiple hospital visits within a year the out of pocket expense can become large. The maximum claimable each year on medical costs is $1,000,000.
If your looking for more premium cover with the option of getting admitted to a private hospital, Frank minimum working visa cover is recommended.
This couples 457 visa health cover policy has key benefits including:
The key differences therefore is the ability to be treated in a private hospital and if your are willing to pay a $100 daily co-payment, a private room as well. The $500 excess is also annual (so if you have multiple hospital admissions over a year, you won’t need to pay the excess again). There is no annual claims maximum as well.
In February 2017 after price changes were finalised by the Australian health funds that offer health insurance for working overseas holder the owners of 457VisaCompared visited each of the providers websites. Based on the information found from prices, policies and feature the comparison table above was created. This was done independently by the panel although health funds were allowed to make changes if they felt any of the results were inaccurate. The recommendation was then made based on the scenario of the policies (in this case ‘budget’) and the best value for this ‘price sensitive’ market.
Since the data was gathered by real individuals (not scraping software or APIs) at a point in time, the information should be used as a guide only. This is because the Australian health funds compared could update their policies at any time including features and policy options (although prices are normally only updated annually). There can also be promotional offers which may not be reflected on this site. You can use the table above to compare the health funds in more detail but using the information and then clicking on the “visit website” buttons and then verifying the information and checking for specific elements that may be important to your specific scenario. If during this process you find any information that may contradict the table above, please use the contact us form to provide the issue and the owners will make changes if this indeed is the case.
Overall, we appreciate the support of our website users and appreciate feedback and any reviews you can leave on sites. Good luck comparing the overseas visitor health insurance policies and working in Australia!
Most working subclass visa including the 457 visa and 485 visa have a number of requirements including condition 8501 which according to the Australian government is the requirement to have ‘adequate health insurance’. In simple terms, when you apply for a visa that has condition 8501 you need to show proof you have health insurance that meets this requirement such as those listed above.
If your a couple this health cover will need to be for both yourself and your spouse (or de facto). This is termed ‘couples overseas visitor health insurance’. Once you apply for couples overseas visitor health cover you the health fund will send you a confirmation letter (normally via e-mail). In most cases this will come within 48 hours and must be attracted to your application letter.
Once you come to Australia your couples overseas visitor health cover needs to commence (if you come earlier than scheduled inform the health fund) and you must keep this policy active throughout your stay in Australia. There are only two circumstances that could allow you to lapse your overseas health cover policy during the stay. The first is if you move to another visa that doesn’t have condition 8501 such as the skilled regional 489 visa.
The other circumstance is if you come from a reciprocal health care country such as the UK and apply and are granted Medicare. Once you receive your medicare card you have the option to lapse your couples overseas visitor health insurance policy. It should be noted that medicare only offers a ‘safety net’ in Australia with a significant number of doctors, hospitals and other services charging fees above the Medicare rate. This leads to patients having to pay for the difference between Medicare and the service fee (terms out-of-pocket expenses). Keeping your overseas visitor health cover can minimise this ‘gap’ and some covers provide additional options such as private hospital stays.
