Overseas Student Health Cover is the type of
Insurance that
students need to have when they
are travelling to Australia as a part of their visa
requirement. This is needed for the
entire stay in Australia. This cover enables you to
avail
medical facilities, hospitals and
healthcare services in case of need.
Students travelling to Australia on a student Visa
for study
purposes are eligible for OSHC.
Bridging visa holders and someone who has previously
held a
student visa right before
getting a bridging visa are also eligible for OSHC.
A Spouse or a de facto partner or child/step
child(younger
than 18 years) can be covered as
long as the policy applies to family plan i.e.
muti-family
or dual-family. If a person is
not dependent as per the policy, then they will have
to seek
other options to get have an
Insurance.
The length of the OSHC is the same as that of the
student
Visa. OSHC is
basically needed for the entire length of the stay
in
Australia. In case there is any
extension to the Visa, the Insurance cover needs to
be
renewed as well.
Yes, you can do this anytime through the Department
of
Health. You will
have to notify the Department of home affairs and
the
current policy provider by submitting
a valid proof. The current policy provider may
charge a
refund processing fee for the refund
that you are entitled to.
You may contact the insurance provider and check the
procedure of making
a claim with them.
If you are arriving in Australia as a student on a
student
visa, some
institutes will already have this arranged for you.
Once you
have the card, the expiry will
be mentioned on the card.
Renewing will be necessarily required when it
expires
while you are still
on a student visa. Failing to do so will result
in major
serious consequences. There are
3
ways in which you can do the renewal:
In case you forget to renew your cover or fail to
pay for
any reason, you
will have to pay the premiums for the lapsed period
expecting not to avail any benefits of
any claims you might have during that period.
The Insurance is needed for your entire length of
stay in
Australia.
Children who are under 18 years can be covered under
OSHC.
All children
who are 18 years or older need to be covered
separately.
If you are both on an independent student visa, then
you can
both opt for
two separate single Insurance policies. If you are a
dependent on someone else’s student
visa, you will have to buy the couple policy. The
Insurance
providers charge much more for a
couple policy in comparison to two single policies
because
they anticipate more claims for
couples than two singles.
Some Visas may have a condition 8501 where it is
required
for one to have
the health cover. Apart from that, visitors from
overseas
are not eligible for Medicare
hence they have to have Health insurance to be used
in case
of any unfortunate health crisis
during their stay in Australia. Medicare is for only
citizens and permanent residents and
partner visa holders. Health Insurance covers all
expenses
related to: Medical treatments in
hospitals, regular expenses including consultations
and
treatments and ambulance transport.
Pre-existing Ailment is a medical condition that
started or
showed its
symptoms during a six-month period either before you
arrived
in Australia or you were
granted a visa-whichever happens first. Normally the
decision on whether it is a
pre-existing ailment or not is determined by a
practising
doctor or any medical
practitioner.
Waiting Period is the period that one has to wait
before
making a claim.
The waiting period starts when you either arrive in
Australia or when you are granted your
visa, which happens later.
Inpatient Care is when a patient is required to be
admitted
in a hospital
even after the treatment for observation during
their
Recovery. Outpatient Care is when a
patient is treated in a hospital without having to
be
admitted. The difference lies in the
admission.
Hospital Cover is inclusive of the Inpatient
treatment that
requires the
patient to be admitted in the hospital whereas extra
cover
includes all treatments done
outside the hospital such as consultations from
specialists,
dentistry or physiotherapy.
You must know whether you are covered for that
particular
treatment or
not. Whether there are any additional costs. Ensure
you are
not in the waiting period. The
hospital should be listed under the contractors.
Yes, you can however if you want to switch to a
higher or
lower level of
cover or choose a policy that has lower co-payments
or fees
gap you have to serve the
waiting period before making a claim.
You will have to notify the insurer immediately
in order
to get an appropriate form of
cover.
You are eligible to apply for a Medicare Card as
part of
the Australian public health
system.
This will result in failure in compliance with the
8501
condition on the visa. Your Visa
shall get cancelled thereof. Moreover, your future
visa
applications are bound to have a
negative impact if you choose to cancel your policy
in the
middle.