Private health insurance

What private health insurance covers

There are 2 types of private health insurance cover:

• hospital cover for the cost of treatment delivered in hospital and certain accommodation and theatre fees
• extras cover for services like dental and physio.

Most private health insurance will let you:

• choose your own allied health professional, surgeon or other specialist
• have treatment in a private hospital or as a private patient in a public hospital.

Private health insurance will also cover the costs for some health care services. Insurers can tell you what they’ll pay for and how much they’ll pay.

Find out more about what insurance covers on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.

Ambulance cover

You can get ambulance cover from a private health insurer. Depending on where you live, you might get discounted ambulance services or not need cover at all. Check ambulance cover arrangements for where you live on the PrivateHealth website.

Choosing private health insurance

There are lots of options when choosing private health insurance, so it pays to research which insurance is best for you and your family.

Find out about choosing private health insurance on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.

What private health insurance doesn’t cover

Private health insurance doesn’t cover:

• general practitioner visits
• some specialist visits
• visits to a public or private hospital emergency department.

Unless you’re a patient in hospital, it also doesn’t cover:

• any x-rays or other scans
• any blood tests or other pathology tests.

Medicare normally covers these things. Find out what Medicare covers on the Services Australia website.

Even if you have private health insurance, you can choose to go to a public hospital as a public patient. If you go to a public hospital as a public patient, your costs will be covered by Medicare.