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Australian Unity health insurance review
Our verdict: Australian Unity health insurance is good if you want flexible cover options and help at home, but not if you just want a basic extras policy.
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Pros
Australian Unity is good if you want to tailor a policy to your needs – it has over 18 options to choose from.
Some policies come with a few perks that others aren't offering, like hospital care at home and rehabilitation at home.
92% of hospital treatments have no gap payments – more than most of the market.
Cons
At around $29 a month, Australian Unity's basic extras policy – Base Extras (BAE) – isn't market-leading; brands such as ahm, HCF, Frank and People Care are likely to cost you less.
Of Australia's 19 largest health funds, Australian Unity had the 2nd most ombudsman complaints compared to market share.
Congratulations, Australian Unity!
Australian Unity is the winner in the Gold Hospital category for the 2023 Finder Awards. It has been recognised in this category for its coverage of 38 hospital treatments, and at a competitive price.
This health insurer has also placed as a finalist in the 2023 Customer Satisfaction Awards.
Australian Unity health insurance: Our verdict
Australian Unity is member-owned, so it invests in products and services that matter to its customers. It's been around for over 180 years and is Australia's 6th biggest health insurer by market share.
Australian Unity is good if:
You want lots of options.
You're growing your family and want great-value gold cover.
You want extra perks, like hospital care at home.
Australian Unity is not great if:
You want a cheap basic extras policy.
You're overwhelmed by lots of choices.
Review by our insurance and innovations editor Gary Ross Hunter.
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Generally, you will have to wait 12 months before you can get access to the services included in your hospital cover policy (or 2 months if it's not pre-existing). Most extras policies have between 2- and 12-month waiting periods.
Australian Unity offers eight different hospital policies:
Simple Hospital (Basic Plus). Includes hospital cover for accidents and emergency ambulance transport, as well as dental surgery, hernia and appendix, joint reconstructions and tonsils, adenoids and grommets.
Core Hospital (Bronze Plus). Covers the 18 clinical categories required for a Bronze rating, plus six additional categories. Gap cover is also included along with some preventative health services and support programs.
Standard Hospital (Bronze Plus).Covers 25 clinical categories, including medically necessary plastic surgery. Gap cover is also included, as well as health services such as mammogram screening and bone density scans.
Midpoint Hospital (Silver Plus). Covers the 28 clinical categories required for a Silver rating, plus sleep studies. Gap cover and extra health services also included.
Intermediate Hospital (Silver Plus). Covers 31 clinical categories, including the heart and vascular system .Gap cover, preventative health services and support programs also included.
Value Hospital (Silver Plus, with $100 daily co-payment). Covers 34 clinical categories, including cataracts and joint replacements, plus gap cover and additional health services. Excesses and co-payments help with premium affordability.
Classic Hospital (Silver Plus). Covers 34 health categories, only excluding assisted reproductive services, dialisis, pregnancy and birth, and weight loss surgery. Gap cover and additional health services included.
Complete Hospital (Gold, with $100 daily co-payment). Covers all 38 clinical health categories required for a Gold rating, plus a range of perks. An excess and daily co-payment for hospital admissions helps keep premiums down.
Extras coverage
Australian Unity's standalone extras covers include Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras and Prime Extras.
Base Extras. Covers up to $1,150 per year on extras including general and preventative dental, optical, physiotherapy, chiropractic services, osteopathy, remedial massage and travel vaccinations.
Mid Extras. This policy provides up to $2,400 per year for the most common extras including general and preventative dental, physiotherapy, chiropractic services, osteopathy and remedial massage, and crowns, bridges and dentures.
Active Extras. This policy allows you to claim up to $5,750 per year for most extras services, including psychology and blood glucose and blood pressure monitors.
Prime Extras. This high level extras option covers you for a broad range of extras and will allow you to claim back up to $8,750 in the first year.
Combined coverage
Australian Unity offers four specifically-designed combined policies.
Care 'n' Repair (Basic Plus). Low-level cover designed with the young and healthy in mind. Includes cover for accidents, ambulance transport, and preventative dental care.
Simple Saver (Basic Plus). This goes a little further than a basic policy. It could be good if you're relatively healthy, are looking to avoid the MLS and want some basic extras cover like dental treatment.
Essential Choice (Bronze Plus). A decent range of hospital essentials such as chemotherapy, kidney and bladder, and sleep studies. Extras cover includes dental, optical and physio.
Advantage Choice Combination (Silver Plus). Mid-level cover including joint reconstructions and the heart and vascular system plus extras such as major dental, podiatry and physio.
Top Choice (Silver Plus). Comprehensive cover for a wide range of procedures and extras.
In addition to specifically-designed combination policies, Australian Unity gives customers the flexibility to mix and match any hospital and extras policies. This gives you a further 28 possible combinations to choose from:
Simple Hospital (Basic Plus) with Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras Core Hospital (Bronze Plus) with Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras Standard Hospital (Bronze Plus) with Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras Midpoint Hospital (Silver Plus with Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras Value Hospital (Silver Plus) with $100 daily co-pay and Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras Classic Hospital (Silver Plus) with Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras Complete Hospital (Gold) with $100 daily co-payment and Base Extras, Mid Extras, Active Extras or Prime Extras
Ambulance coverage
All Australian Unity insurance policies include cover for emergency ambulance transportation unless you live in Queensland or Tasmania – it's already free in these states.
Australian Unity health insurance complaints
We looked at the 2022 Ombudsman health insurance complaints to see how Australian Unity performed.
It had the 2nd highest number of complaints compared to market share (of funds with at least a 0.5% market share).
Australian Unity has a smaller complaints ratio than Health.com.au, HCF and AIA Health.
This chart shows the weighted volume of complaints received by each health fund, according to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The lower the number, the better. Only non-restricted funds with a national market share of at least 0.1% are included here. Australian Unity is eighteenth overall in this ranking. The weighting ensures that funds are compared fairly; larger funds serve more customers so can potentially get more complaints.
Why you can trust Finder's health insurance experts
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Unlike other comparison sites, we're not owned by an insurer. That means our opinions are our own and you can compare nearly every health fund in Australia on the site (and find a better deal).
We're here to help
Since 2014, we've helped 350,000+ people find health insurance by explaining your options simply. We'll never ask for your number or email to see prices. We're here to help you make a decision.
Australian Unity frequently asked questions
Yes, Australian Unity is a not-for-profit health fund and is completely member-owned. It says it's Australia's oldest member-owned wellbeing company, having been established in 1840.
There are a range of offers and perks available for Australian Unity members including:
Up to 100% back on preventative dental with treatments including x-rays and custom mouthguards.
Unlike some health providers, with Australian Unity you can keep seeing your favourite providers, from your dentist to physiotherapist.
Many of Australian Unity's health covers offer Preventative Health Services to help you stay fit and healthy, including fitness training, weight loss and quit smoking programs.
The claims process for Australian Unity varies depending on the type of service you need to claim.
If you need to make an extras claim you can do so in the following ways:
On the spot. You can swipe your Australian Unity membership card on the spot by using your health care provider's HICAPS or CSC machine.
Via the Australian Unity app. Australian Unity's mobile claiming app allows you to upload photos of your receipts to claim up to $300 at a time. The app is available from the App Store and Google Play.
Online. You can log into your Australian Unity online account to submit your claim.
Over the phone. You can call Australian Unity on 1300 793 126 to get your claim processed over the phone.
By mail, email or fax. The final option is to download a health cover claim form from the Australian Unity website, complete the form, attach your receipts and send everything off to the postal address, email address or fax number listed on the form
Gary Ross Hunter is an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, news.com.au, The Telegraph, Explore Travel and Escape. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Kaplan Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146).
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