Graham-Nguyen & Associates

Hospital treatment in Australia can be expensive.  Overseas student health cover (OSHC) provides self-funded medical and hospital cover for overseas students and their dependants.  It covers the costs for medical and hospital care which international students may need while in Australia. OSHC will also pay for most prescription drugs and emergency ambulance transport.  

All international students studying in Australia and holding a student visa must purchase an approved OSHC policy from a registered health fund. You will need to buy OSHC before you come to Australia, to cover you from when you arrive. You will also need to maintain OSHC throughout your stay in Australia. The minimum period of cover is 12 months, or the duration of the student visa, whichever is shorter.  If you have an OSHC policy that expires before the expiration of your student visa, or if you extend the length of your student visa, you must renew your OSHC policy while you remain in Australia.

Payment

If you need to receive medical treatment in Australia, you will usually have one of two payment choices, either you pay the medical bill and receive a refund from your health fund or the bill is passed straight to the health fund to pay.  For prescription medication you will usually pay the pharmacist first and receive a refund while hospital bills are usually paid directly by the health fund.  However, payment options vary between different health funds.

What is covered?

OSHC covers the following:
•    the benefit amount as listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) for out-of-hospital medical services;
•    100 per cent of the MBS fee for in-patient medical services (for example, surgery);
•    public hospital shared ward accommodation;
•    private hospital shared ward accommodation (for hospitals that have contractual arrangements with the overseas        student's health fund);
•    day surgery accommodation;
•    no gap prostheses and gap permitted prostheses as listed in the Determination made under subsection 73AAG(6)       and (7) of the National Health Act 1953;
•    limited pharmaceuticals; and
•    ambulance services.

What is not covered?

OSHC does not cover the following:

•    assisted reproduction services, such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF);
•    treatment arranged before coming to Australia;
•    treatment needed while travelling to or from Australia;
•    treatment during the first 12 months of membership for pre-existing medical conditions or disabilities;
•    pregnancy-related services if the length of the visa is for 3 months or less;
•    transportation of a dependant or overseas student into or out of Australia in any circumstance; or
•    treatment covered by provisions for compensation and damages.

OSHC can, however, be upgraded to cover additional services, such as dental, physiotherapy, optical, pregnancy-related services and treatment arranged before coming to Australia.  You should contact your OSHC provider for information on additional costs relating to the provision of additional services.