Police health insurance review
Police Health is Australia’s only private health insurer established exclusively for current and former police officers and employees, along with their close relatives.
Founded in 1935, Police Health now provides cover to over 60,000 members of the policing community across Australia. Police Health is a not-for-profit fund and aims to provide cover at a competitive price for its members.
Key Points
A not-for-profit restricted fund exclusively for members of Australia’s policing community and their immediate families.
Police Health allows members to roll over unused annual extras benefits into the next calendar year.
Only offers the highest tier of Hospital and Extras cover, with no hospital excess, exclusions or co-payments.
Hospital cover
Nobody chooses to go to hospital. But when you do, appropriate hospital cover will help you get the treatment you need, where and when you want it.
It also helps to pay the bills, as fees for hospital rooms and specialists can add up.
Think about what services you’re likely to need, in line with your budget. If you earn over $90,000 individually or $180,000 as a couple, taking out appropriate hospital cover may help you avoid paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) for the period you have cover.
Police Health only offers one type of hospital cover: Gold Hospital. The top tier policy has no hospital excess, co-payments, exclusions or benefit limitation periods.
COMPARE & SAVEGold Hospital
Police Health state that they only offer their members the best cover available, which is why they only offer a top-tier hospital policy.
It covers all 38 treatment and procedure categories where Medicare pays a benefit and they have 25,000 doctors across Australia who are part of their Access Gap scheme.
Key inclusions:
Pregnancy and birth
Cataracts
Insulin pumps
Ambulance cover
Police Health’s Gold Hospital policy includes unlimited emergency and non-emergency ambulance insurance Australia-wide for all medically necessary transport by air, land and sea.
Extras cover
Extra Reset on 1st of January
From dental, to optical, to chiro and more, extras insurance helps cover the bills for routine treatments with rebates of up to 100%.
While we’ve summarised the key points of Police Health’s extras cover below, it’s always worth digging a little deeper into any gap fees, how much you can claim back, and whether your preferred healthcare provider, such as your local dentist, is recognised by the health fund.
Take the time to work out what you need and what you’re prepared to pay. If this feels a bit overwhelming, you can speak to one of our experts.
Police Health offers one extras policy, Rolling Extras. This cover offers 80% back on most benefits.
Police Health is the only fund in Australia that offers rolling extras, so any unused benefits will rollover to the next calendar year, up to a specified rollover maximum.
Rolling Extras
Police Health’s only extras cover was designed with the police community in mind, with 80% back on most benefits with a wide range of inclusions.
Key inclusions:
Unlimited annual limits on General Dental
$1,500 annual limits per person on Major Dental ($3,000 rollover maximum)
$850 combined annual limit per person on Psychology and Counselling
Waiting periods
Waiting periods are there to stop people from signing up, claiming and then cancelling their cover. It means once you take out a new plan, you may have to wait a certain amount of time before receiving your benefit.
When you switch to Police Health from another provider, you won’t have to re-serve new waiting periods, unless your new policy pays higher benefits or covers something you didn’t have before.
Hospital Waiting Periods
3 years for corrective laser eye surgery
12 months for pre-existing conditions
12 months for aids and appliances
12 months for Obstetrics
2 months for Psychiatric care, Rehabilitation or Palliative care (whether or not these are pre-existing conditions)
2 months in all other circumstances excluding accidents
Extras Waiting Periods
12 months for Hearing Aids
12 months for Major Dental
12 months for Orthodontics
12 months for Rollover Benefit
2 months for all other services, excluding accidents
Member benefits
Members of Police Health can get access to hospital treatment at home for a limited number of items and has a midwife-designed support platform for mums and mums-to-be.
How to claim
Hospital
Simply tell the hospital you are a member of a Police Health policy. Your hospital account will be sent directly to Police Health for them to assess on your behalf. If you’re billed directly via your provider, you can also claim via your MyGov account or by going into a Medicare office.
It is recommended you call your fund before your admission date to check what benefits you are entitled to and if any out-of-pocket expenses or excess will be payable on the day,
Extras
You can swipe your membership card to claim directly on the spot with your provider’s HICAPS or iSOFT terminal.
Members can also claim after the treatment via the Police Health mobile claiming app or through email, fax or mail.
Hospital agreements
Police Health has agreements with a large number of hospital and day surgery providers across Australia.
When comparing policies, it’s worth checking if your preferred local hospitals and clinics are covered. Our specialists at Health Insurance Comparison can do this for you.
Customer service
Police Health received 10 complaints in 2020. As a total of overall complaints to health insurers this is below their market share of <0.5%, which suggests their customer service is good.
COMPARE & SAVEFAQ
1. Is Police Health Fund a not-for-profit fund?
Yes. As a not-for-profit fund, Police Health is part of the Members’ Health Alliance.
2. Who can apply? Are there restrictions?
Yes. Police Health is a restricted fund only available to current and former police officers, police employees and volunteers of police departments, police unions and associations, including their close relations.
3. Is it easy to switch to Police Health Fund?
Police Health isn’t on our panel so you’ll need to contact them directly to switch. We’re confident the Compare Club team can find you a great deal from the insurers on our panel.
4. Do I need to re-serve waiting periods?
You can switch to an equivalent or lower level of cover without re-serving new waiting periods. You’ll need to serve new waiting periods if you have upgraded to a higher level of cover.
5. Can I change my level of cover?
Yes. You’ll need to modify your cover with Police Health directly.
6. Do I get the government rebate?
For every dollar of private health insurance premiums, the Australian Government provides eligible Australians with a rebate of up to 33.4% (depending on your age and income). To learn what you’re entitled to, read our rebate guide.
7. Do I have to pay the Lifetime Health Cover loading?
If you’re 31 or over, you usually need to pay 2% loading for each year you’ve gone without hospital cover since the 1st July following your 31st birthday. You can find out more here.
8. Up to what age are children covered?
Children are automatically covered under family cover until the day before they turn 21.
If they are full-time students, they’ll be covered for no extra cost until the day before they turn 25 or cease full time study (whichever comes first).
COMPARE & SAVEThis guide is opinion only and should not be taken as medical or financial advice. Check with a financial professional before making any decisions.
