Bronze Health Insurance

Thanks to new health insurance reforms in Australia, it's now easier than ever to find cover that suits you. The new system aims to provide an easy to understand tier structure for policies giving you more options for your level of cover and the prices you pay.

What is Bronze tier hospital cover?

Under the new system of health insurance in Australia, hospital cover is now split into four distinct categories, Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Bronze insurance is the second level of cover, after basic and before silver, and covers you for 21 out of 38 clinical categories which include some of the most common hospital treatments in Australia such as joint replacement, diabetes management and more.

Bronze tier health insurance covers some of the most common hospital treatments including chemotherapy, gynaecology and pain management, giving you more treatment options than a basic policy while leaving out some of the more uncommon or premium treatments, meaning you won't pay for treatments you might not need.

Compare Bronze hospital cover in Australia

Below are some examples of the cost of Bronze insurance from Finder Partners.

Fund	Policy Name	Cost per month	Hospital Services	Inclusions	Apply
	Base Hospital Co-Pay (Bronze+)	$81.78	23	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Medibank Bronze Plus Progress	$84.20	31	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Bronze Hospital	$85.89	29	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Starter Bronze	$86.80	18	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Bronze Hospital Plus	$87.45	29	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Bronze Hospital Plus	$87.45	29	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Bronze Hospital Plus	$89.49	25	Cancer Dental surgery Eye (not cataracts) Joint reconstructions Medically necessary plastic surgery	Go to Site
	Bronze Plus	$91.60	27	Accident Safeguard Palliative care Brain and nervous system Eye (not cataracts) Ear, nose and throat Cataracts	Go to Site

*Quotes are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income, $500 excess and living in Sydney.

What does the Bronze hospital tier cover?

At a minimum, a Bronze tier hospital policy includes:

• Rehabilitation
• Hospital psychiatric services
• Palliative care

What is bronze plus (+)?

From 1 April 2019 the health insurance reforms mean that health funds can offer a "Plus [+]" option for policies outside the gold tier, in this case a Bronze Plus [+] policy.

What this means is a policy with Plus [+] provides cover above the minimum requirements of the bronze tier. For example, ahm offer a bronze plus policy that in addition to the minimum benefits required for a bronze tier policy, ahm core bronze plus (Bronze Plus) offers benefits for:

• Lung and chest
• Blood
• Back, neck and spine
• Plastic and reconstructive surgery (medically necessary)
• Dental surgery
• Podiatric surgery (provided by a registered podiatric surgeon)
• Implantation of hearing devices

Who can benefit from Bronze hospital insurance?

If you're looking for a hospital policy that offers a baseline of cover without breaking the bank, a Bronze policy may be for you. Those who may find benefits from a Bronze policy include:

Women

As part of the reforms to the private health insurance system, women are now able to claim for a range of services on Bronze tier cover and above including for:

• Breast and ovarian cancer treatment
• Breast reconstruction
• Gynaecological services

However, it's worth pointing out that if you want cover for pregnancy and treatments such as IVF, you're going to need to get a Gold policy.

Young people

If you're fit, healthy and don't plan on having children anytime soon, a Bronze policy should provide you with adequate cover. And to sweeten the deal, if you're aged between 18 and 25, insurers can now start offering you 10% off your hospital premiums until you turn 40.

When are these changes happening?

The new tiered system came into effect on 1 April 2019 and many insurers have already begun rolling out Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic policies. However, health funds have until 1 April 2020 to make sure all their products are compliant with these tiers.

Compare Bronze Health Insurance

Use this free tool to see side by side quotes from health funds in Australia, don't forget to select Bronze tiers on your results page.

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