Does health insurance cover hearing aids?

Private health insurance and Medicare both provide some level of cover for some of the costs associated with the following treatments and appliances.

• Hearing aids. Hearing aids are devices that restore or improve your ability to hear.
• Audiology. Audiology is how conditions are diagnosed and assessed on an ongoing basis.

Hearing aid cover is available through extras cover. You'll probably have a waiting period of around 12 months, so start looking now if your hearing is on the decline.

How much is health insurance with cover for hearing aids?

To get you started, these example policies from Finder partners all include rebates for hearing aids. The prices quoted are based on a single in Sydney.

Provider	Policy	Annual Limit	Price per month	Apply
	HCF Vital Extras	$600.00	$56.36	Go to Site
	Super Extras	$1,600.00	$82.06	Go to Site
	Top Extras	$1,200.00	$116.10

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

Which Australian health funds include cover for hearing aids?

• finder.com.au health funds
• Complete list of health funds

Health fund	Extras policies and annual benefit limits*	Waiting periods
	Premium Options. $550 per person Super Options. $500 per person	36 months
	High 85%. $500 per person High 75%. $400 per person High 65%. $300 per person	12 months
	Restricted health fund Top Extras. $1,600 per person	12 months
	Super Extras. $1,600 per person Family Extras. $1,200 per person	12 months
Australian Unity	Platinum 80% Extras. $600 per person Gold Extras. $550 per person	12 months
	Gold Extras. $1,500 per person Silver Extras. $1,200 per person	12 months
	Platinum Extras. $800 per person Gold Extras. $600 per person	24 months
	Top Extras. $1,200 per person Core Young At Heart Extras. $500 per person	36 months
	Top Extras. $1,000 per person	24 months

_{*The policies listed in this table are extras only. However, in most cases these can be combined with hospital cover.}

Health fund	Extras policies and annual benefit limits*	Waiting periods
ahm	Super Extras. $1,600 per person Family Extras. $1,200 per person	12 months
Australian Unity	Platinum 80% Extras. $600 per person Gold Extras. $550 per person	12 months
Bupa	Platinum Extras. $1,200 per person Gold Extras. $1,000 per person Silver Extras. $800 per person	12 months
Cessnock District Health Fund	Gold Extras. $750 per person Silver Extras. $750 per person	36 months
CUA Health	Total Extras. $800 per person Classic Extras. $600 per person	12 months
GMHBA	Gold Extras. $1,500 per person Silver Extras. $1,200 per person	12 months
HBF	Flexi Extras Plus. $1,000 per person Flexi Extras Mid. $800 per person Flexi Extras. $600 per person	12 months
HCF	Platinum Extras. $800 per person Gold Extras. $600 per person	24 months
Health Care Insurance	Premier Extras. $3,320 per person	24 months
health.com.au	High 85%. $500 per person High 75%. $400 per person High 65%. $300 per person	12 months
hif	Premium Options. $600 per person Super Options. $500 per person	36 months
Latrobe Health Services	Premier Gold, Family Care Gold. $1,000 per person Premier Silver. $650 per person Premier, Premier Plus. $500 per person	12 months
Medibank	Top Extras. $400 per person	36 months
Mildura Health Fund	Five Star Extras. $1,000 per person Ancillary Plus. $700 per person Basic Ancillary. $450 per person	36 months
nib	Top Extras. $1,200 per person Core Young At Heart Extras. $500 per person	36 months
onemedifund	Extras Plus. $1,500 per person	24 months
Peoplecare	Premium Extras. $1,500 per person High Extras. $1,000 per person	24 months
Phoenix Health Fund	Top Extras. $900 per person	12 months
Transport Health	Top Extras. $1,000 per person	24 months
Westfund	Platinum Extras. $2,000 per person Gold Extras. $1,400	60 months
ACA Health	Restricted health fund Complete Ancillary. $1,500 per person	12 months
CBHS health fund	Restricted health fund Top Extras. $1,600 per person	12 months
Defence Health	Restricted health fund Premier Extras. $1,500 per person Value Extras. $1,000 per person	12 months
Doctors Health Fund	Restricted health fund Total Extras. $800 per person Essential Extras. $200 per person	24 months
Navy Health	Restricted health fund Premium Extras. $1,300 per person Healthy Living Extras. $900 per person	12 months
Police Health	Restricted health fund SureCover Extras. $1,200 per person	12 months
Reserve Bank Health Society	Restricted health fund Extras Cover. $5,440 per person	12 months
RT Health	Restricted health fund Premium Extras. $1,200 per person Smart Extras. $900 per person	24 months
Teachers Health Fund	Restricted health fund Top Extras. $1,200 per person	12 months
TUH	Restricted health fund Comprehensive Extras. $2,000 per person $1,000/ear	12 months

_{*The majority of the policies listed in this table are extras only. However, in most cases these can be combined with hospital cover.}

Review your options

How does private health insurance cover hearing aids and audiology?

Many private health insurance funds will include hearing aids and audiology on their policies. However, these services are typically only covered by comprehensive extras.

Private health insurance and hearing aids

• Hearing aids are typically only covered by the highest level extras policies.
• Policies will typically pay a set cost, rather than cash-back rebates. This is because the cost of hearing aids can vary widely.
• Private health insurance generally pays out for a single device. However, most funds have a specified limit for how many times you can claim, such as one device every five years.
• Some health funds offer benefits for repairing damaged hearing aids.

Health insurance benefits for audiology

• Benefits will either take the form of cash-back offers, where you get a certain percentage of costs paid, typically 60-100%, or set costs such as $35 for each audiology session.
• Initial audiology consultations and diagnoses usually take longer than subsequent follow-up sessions. As such, set cost policies generally pay more for initial sessions and less for follow-ups.

Should I get private health insurance for hearing aids?

Hearing aids are typically only covered by the more comprehensive and high level extras health insurance policies. This means you will be paying for many benefits in addition to hearing aids, whether you want to or not.

As such, you should not get private health insurance just for hearing aids and audiology. However, you might want to get private health insurance for all the other benefits it offers, on top of audiology and hearing aids.

If you use a hearing aid, then look at how it is covered by private health funds when comparing policies, but remember to look at all the other costs and benefits as well. The level of audiology and hearing aid cover should be an important factor in making your choice, but so too are all the other features included in the policy.

Average amount of hearing aid costs covered by funds

The below table shows the average amount of cost covered toward hearing aids by fund. All figures are taken from extras cover.

For some funds, the data does not take account of discounts at some providers or fund Dental / Optical centres.
Note: All percentages based on health fund reporting to APRA. 'n/a' signifies no activity and 100 per cent is likely to indicate small numbers (eg. only 1 episode).

Does Medicare cover hearing aids or audiology?

Medicare doesn’t cover any of the costs of a hearing aid device. It will only cover some of the prior surgical procedures required for a specific type of hearing aid (bone conduction) if you are unable to use a conventional hearing aid, but won’t cover the cost of the device itself.

What should I be aware of when comparing health insurance?

When comparing health insurance cover of audiology and hearing aids you should be aware of.

• Limits. These refer to the maximum amounts that can be claimed. Audiology might have its own limits, or it might share limits with hearing aids or other diagnostic services. Meanwhile, hearing aids usually have their own specific limits, but will in some cases share limits with audiology, or with other implants and devices.
• Conditions and exclusions. These are conditions and restrictions where health insurance will not pay out. There are typically very few, or no, restrictions surrounding hearing aids. Audiology services, however, will generally need to be provided by a licensed and recognised audiologist and for the fulfilment of clear diagnostic purposes. You typically can’t claim audiology if it is done for the purpose of irregular assessment, such as checking occupational fitness for a job that requires good hearing.
• Waiting periods. This is how long you must wait between taking out a policy and being able to make a claim. For hearing aids this will typically be 12 months, while audiological waiting periods can vary from a couple of months to a full year, and may even be nonexistent.

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