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Customised Health Insurance

Name: Customised Health Insurance
Creator: Savvy
Published: 2023-03-30T16:52:31+10:30

Compare policies and insurers which allow you to customise your health cover with Savvy.

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Written by , updated on July 6th, 2023

We’ve partnered with Compare Club to bring you a range of health insurance policies to help you compare them side by side.

We all like to be able to choose how we spend our money, and when it comes to health insurance this is particularly important, as our health needs are all so different! Some private health cover policies now let you customise and decide how to spend your benefit allowance, giving you more flexibility and choice.

Compare health insurance policies from some of Australia’s leading health funds through Savvy and discover the choices that are available to you regarding personalised health insurance cover. Start the process of comparing your options through us today.

What are customised health insurance policies and how do they work?

Customised health cover is a relatively new innovation in health insurance. It's a way for people to have more choice about which areas of treatment they have health cover for and what they spend their money on. There are opportunities to select the percentage which can be claimed back on the cost of treatment and also choose certain annual claim limits. This customisation usually only applies to extras policies, rather than hospital cover policies.

A personalised extras policy is often called ‘flexible’ by health funds, which means the areas of treatment you can get cover for, and policy limits, aren’t set in stone, but rather are chosen by the individual. For example, you may choose to opt for cover for dental, optical and physiotherapy, but not pay for podiatry or chiropractic treatments if these areas of healthcare are of no interest to you.

The price of these flexible policies varies according to how much cover you choose to buy, the limits you opt for and any additional areas of cover you choose to add onto the basic cover. The more areas of cover you choose, and the higher benefit limits you opt for, the more you can expect to pay for your policy.

You can compare a range of extras health insurance policies through Savvy. Just answer a few simple questions about the cover you’re looking for and within minutes you’ll have a range of policies to compare from our panel of leading providers.

How should I compare customisable health insurance policies?

Some of the areas to look at when comparing extras policies are:

The overall cost – bearing in mind different levels of cover on offer
Which areas of health care are covered, and which ones aren’t
The total policy benefit limit, per-person limits and annual limits
How much you could spend on areas of healthcare that you currently use regularly
If the policy offers you cover for pre-existing conditions you may have
Any waiting periods that may apply
Any exclusions that may impact you

If you aren’t sure which policy is the best one for your needs from our panel of insurers, just request a call-back and a health insurance specialist will call you back and talk over your choices with you to help you make your decision.

Types of health insurance

Hospital cover

This can help you pay for medical treatment if you need to be admitted to hospital. It can help cover the cost of your admission or accommodation and the fees charged by doctors, surgeons and anaesthetists. It can also cover other costs associated with a stay in a private hospital.

Extras cover

This helps cover the costs of health care treatments outside a hospital setting which aren’t covered by Medicare. This can include major and minor dental treatment, orthodontics, hearing aids, physiotherapy, glasses, contact lenses and podiatry (in most cases with annual limits).

Cover for singles

This is a standard health insurance policy designed for a single person, rather than being tailored to cater to the needs of a couple or family. It may include hospital cover plus extras, or either of these types of insurance on their own, depending on what you're after for your health cover.

Cover for families

A family health insurance policy is designed for a family unit including dependent children who may reach up to 31 years of age with some insurers. It offers private health insurance suitable for the whole family and may include shared limits for all members included in your policy.

Cover for seniors

A health insurance policy aimed at seniors is designed to appeal to people who are in the second half of their life. These are often specific Silver Plus policies that offer the same cover as other health insurance policies, with the exception that pregnancy and childbirth cover may not be included.

OVHC

Visitors who are in Australia on a temporary basis for travel, work or study may be able to take out Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC). Many visas issued in Australia come with a requirement to take out this type of insurance, which covers visitors who may not be covered by Medicare.

Ambulance cover

Ambulance cover is generally available either packaged into your private health insurance or on its own as a separate policy or subscription. By having this protection, you could be covered for all eligible ambulance travel in Australia (subject to your insurer's terms and conditions).

Basic hospital cover

The cheapest and most barebones form of private hospital insurance, this can include cover for rehab, in-hospital psychiatric services and palliative care. Having this policy will enable you to avoid paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) and Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading.

Bronze hospital cover

Bronze hospital cover is a step up from basic insurance, including 18 further clinical categories such as ear, nose and throat, bone, joint and muscle, digestive system, joint reconstructions, gynaecology and chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy for cancer.

Silver hospital cover

Silver hospital cover is the second-most expensive type of policy and offers the second-most clinical categories. On top of what's offered by basic and bronze cover, it also includes heart and vascular system, lung and chest, blood, hearing device implantation and dental surgery.

Gold hospital cover

The highest level of private hospital insurance available in Australia, gold policies can offer cover for pregnancy and birth, weight loss surgery, assisted reproductive services and insulin pumps on top of all the categories provided by silver, bronze and basic hospital insurance.

Why compare health insurance through Savvy?

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You can consider the inclusions, premiums, benefits and other key factors easily with us, whether you’re at home or on the go.

Trusted insurers

Considering offers from trusted insurance providers can help give you peace of mind that you’re comparing high-quality policies.

Frequently asked questions about customised health insurance

Are customisable extras policies more expensive?

This will depend on which particular policy you choose to buy and what it offers in comparison to other, similar-level policies. In general terms, flexible policies are not known for offering cheaper prices, but rather more choice about how you can spread your covered areas across your policy. It makes sense to compare a wide range of policies when considering if private health insurance is worth it.

Do all health funds allow you to customise your health cover?

No – customised health insurance is a relatively new concept and is offered by some health funds, but not all. As such, if you want extra choice when it comes to your health insurance policy, you’ll have fewer funds to compare between.

Will I have to serve waiting periods again if I swap health funds?

If you swap to a similar level policy with another insurer, you may not have to serve waiting periods over again. However, if you swap to a higher level of insurance and there are areas you haven’t had cover for previously, you may have to serve additional waiting periods for those new areas. However, some health funds may waive waiting periods for certain extras to encourage customers to switch their health insurance under special sign-up deals. When you change from one policy to another, your old fund will typically tell your new fund exactly what waiting periods you’ve already served.

Do I lose the unused portion of my annual benefits if I switch insurers?

This will depend on your insurer and whether they agree to carry over any unused benefits from your previous health insurance policy. Some funds which are keen to attract new customers may honour the unused portion of your old fund’s benefits for the remainder of the year until your new fund’s benefits reset. However, it’s important to check with your insurer if you’re unsure about whether your benefits can be carried over from your previous policy.

Health insurance by age group

Babies

Kids

Young adults

Under 30s

Over 50s

Over 60s

Over 65s

Over 70s

Helpful health insurance guides

Looking for health insurance to cover your condition or treatment?

Read one of our helpful guides on a range of different ailments and potential hospital or extras treatments to help you find out if they're covered.

Disclaimer:

Savvy is partnered with Compare Club Australia Pty Ltd (AFS representative number 001279036) of Alternative Media Pty Ltd (AFS License number 486326) to provide readers with a variety of health insurance policies to compare. Savvy earns a commission from Compare Club each time a customer buys a health insurance policy via our website. We don’t arrange for products to be purchased from these brands directly, as all purchases are conducted via Compare Club.

Savvy’s comparison service is provided by Compare Club. Compare Club compares selected products from a panel of trusted insurers and does not compare all products in the market.

Any advice presented above or on other pages is general in nature and doesn’t consider your personal or business objectives, needs or finances. It’s always important to consider whether advice is suitable for you before purchasing an insurance policy.

For any further information on the variety of insurers compared by Compare Club or how their business works, you can read their Financial Services Guide.