Health insurance for overseas visitors works a little differently than what's available to locals, so Allianz makes it easy to understand by breaking it down into three streams of cover, each tailored to a different type of visitor: students, workers and travellers.
If you fall into one of these groups, Allianz has a selection of policies just for you, whether you're a student or worker whose visa requires it, or you're a backpacker who just wants some extra protection.
Top 3 features:
- Good for people who want full medical cover for most treatments. All of Allianz' policies cover nearly every necessary hospital treatment including pregnancy.
- Good for people who appreciate customer support. Allianz Global Assistance has been helping travellers for over 30 years and maintains a 24/7 helpline if you need assistance.
- Beware if you don't need full cover. If you are young, healthy and single, you may not need a policy that covers pregnancy, cancer and heart surgery.
Allianz is one of the largest insurance companies in the world, operating in 66 countries around the globe. The division of Allianz that offers health insurance to overseas visitors is called Allianz Global Assistance.
It was born in 1983 as a company called Worldcare, when its founder struggled to safely bring his son home from overseas.
It has since joined the Allianz Group and specialises in helping people travel safely with products like Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC), Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), roadside assistance, travel insurance, emergency home assistance and more.
Allianz offers three streams of cover to different types of visitors: students, workers and travellers. Each of these groups has slightly different needs and Allianz' policies cater to them accordingly.
Here are the options available to all types of visitors:
Students: Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
For most students, the number one feature they need in a health insurance policy is for it to meet visa condition 8501, which is the government's requirement for the student to have adequate health insurance.
Allianz offers a single OSCH policy that meets this condition, while also covering students for a range of treatments and services that a student would need.
Here's what it provides for students such as those on visa 500:
- Full cover for most hospital treatments. It pays 100% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee for all treatments except assisted reproductive services (like IVF) and cosmetic surgery that isn't medically necessary.
- Doctor's visits. This covers 100% of the MBS fee for doctors visits and specialist visits.
- Other medical services. It pays 85% of the MBS fee for services like blood work and radiology.
- Prescriptions. It gives you $300 per year to cover prescriptions prescribed by a doctor.
- Surgically implanted prostheses. Pays 100% of the cost of any medically necessary prosthetic device listed on the government's register of approved devices.
- Ambulance cover. It pays 100% of medically necessary ambulance transport.
It does not cover non-hospital treatments like dental, optical and physical therapy. These are known as extras, and if you want extras cover, you are free to purchase any extras policy on the market.
Workers: Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC)
Most workers visiting Australia also need insurance that meets visa condition 8501. Allianz offers four policies for workers who need it, such as those on visas 482, 485 and 405. These are:
- Budget Working Cover. This pays 100% of MBS fee for most treatments except assisted reproductive services (like IVF) and elective cosmetic surgery. It also covers secondary fees in a public or private hospital including your accommodation, medications, ambulance, surgically implanted prostheses and rehab.
- Standard Working Cover. This covers everything Budget Working cover does plus doctors visits, non-hospital prescriptions, blood work, radiology and specialist visits.
- Mid Working Cover. This covers everything the first two workers policies do plus a range non-hospital treatments like general dental, optical, physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and remedial massage (these are called extras in Australia).
- Top Working Cover. This covers everything Mid Working Cover does plus additional extras like speech therapy, hearing aids, podiatry, psychology and health management programs.
Visitors: Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC)
Allianz also also uses the term OVHC to refer to its visitors cover, although Allianz does not promise that these policies meet condition 8501. That's because these travellers aren't required to meet this condition for their visas.
Here are the policies available for travellers, such as those on visas 600, 601 and 651:
- Budget Visitors. This covers 100% of the MBS fee for most medically necessary treatments except assisted reproductive services and elective cosmetic surgery. It also covers fees you're charged in a public or private hospital, including accommodation, doctor's fees, in-hospital medications, emergency ambulance and surgically implanted prostheses.
- Standard Visitors. This covers all the same hospital expenses as Budget Visitors policy, but adds cover for doctors visits, specialist visits, blood work, radiology and non-hospital prescriptions.
There are a number of benefits of going with Allianz, including:
- 24-hour support. Allianz Global Assistance has been helping travellers for more than 30 years and they are available 24/7 via the Global Assistance helpline if you ever need assistance.
- Family cover. You can take out cover for yourself, you and your partner or the whole family. All dependants are covered free under a family policy.
- Access to agreement hospitals and doctors. If you visit a hospital or doctor that's in Allianz' wide network of agreement hospitals, you can save on a major out-of-pocket expenses called the gap. This is what non-network doctors will charge you above the benefit amount Allianz pays.
Your Allianz health insurance id is your policy number listed on your certificate of insurance.
You'll need that to register for Allianz' online member portal and app, where you can make a claim, find a doctor, update your membership details and access the Global Assistance Helpline.
Once you sign up, you can simply login using your email address and password.
To make a claim on any of Allianz' OSHC or OVHC policies, you have several options:
- Log onto the member portal via the website or app. You can fill out your claim form, upload supporting documents and submit everything right there.
- You can also submit you claim manually by downloading a claim form on the Allianz Global Assistance website, filling it out and submitting it with your supporting documents via email to ovhcclaims@allianz-assistance.com.au. Or you can post your claim and supporting documens to Allianz Global Assistance OVHC, Locked Bag 3004, Toowong QLD 4066.
Allianz will process your claim within ten working days of being received.
Most reviews online pertain to Allianz travel insurance. The travel insurance product is also powered by Allianz Global Assistance, meaning you'll be dealing with the same support team. Reviews seem to sway positive toward customer service and efficiency of claims.
However, you should take reviews with a grain of salt and you should seek out opinions elsewhere, such as on travel forums or through friends and family.
