To make comparing overseas health insurance even easier, we developed the Finder Score. Factors like price, hospital cover, extras cover, emergency travel, and more are weighted and scaled across 50+ policies from 15+ providers to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score, the more competitive the policy.
If you're coming to Australia on a temporary working visa, you'll need a specific type of Overseas Visitor Health Cover – workers cover. This is a type of health insurance designed for people who come to work in Australia on a temporary basis.
When you apply for a visa, most come with condition 8501 which states that you need to have health insurance while you're in Australia. All the policies above meet the requirements outlined in your visa.
This also means you'll need to purchase a policy before you complete your visa application. When you take out cover, they'll send you a certificate straight away to put with your application. You generally won't be charged until you arrive in Australia.
Your insurer will pay up to 100% of the MBS fee as long as your policy covers the treatment. You may be covered for less if you use a hospital that doesn't have a partnership with your insurer.
Your insurer will pay up to 100% of the amount that the Australian Government has determined that a standard GP consultation should cost. You'll need to pay the difference if your doctor charges more.
You generally get a yearly dollar limit that you can claim for prescriptions and specialist service costs such as x-rays and bloodwork.
Your insurer will pay for ambulance rides in an emergency. If it's not an emergency, you'll need to pay for the costs.
There are certain service and treatment exclusions that your policy will generally not cover, such as:
"Before we became permanent residents, and eventually citizens, we had overseas cover through Bupa. Most overseas visas where you are going to live for a while require you to get Gold coverage so this was pricey. We never actually utilised the cover. We went to Bupa because they had a physical shop, but didn't shop around as we didn't realise we could back then."
No. Some people on visas from countries which have a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with Australia do not need to get OVHC. They are eligible to receive subsidised health care treatment (Medicare).
Australia has agreements in place with the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Slovenia, Malta and Italy:
If you're coming from any of these countries to work in Australia, you should enrol in Medicare once you arrive – with two exceptions. Visitors from Ireland and New Zealand can't enrol and won't be issued a Medicare card. Instead, at a public hospital or pharmacy you show your passport and ask to be treated under the reciprocal health care agreement, which covers medically necessary public hospital treatment and some PBS medicines, but not GP visits.
RHCAs don't cover everything. You will be out of pocket for ambulance transportation (in most states) dental care, medical evacuation and private patient treatment, so it might still be worth getting OVHC even if you are eligible for Medicare.
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