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CUA health insurance review
Our verdict: CUA Health Insurance (soon to be part of HBF) offers some very comprehensive hospital policies. However, those policies are relatively expensive, with some cheaper options available.
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Pros
Very comprehensive hospital cover, with more treatments than required in each tier.
'Total Extras' is great for dental, with $250 back on one annual checkup, plus two yearly checkups for dependents under 23.
"Premium Select Hospital" covers pregnancy for around $188 a month ($750 excess), though HBF and Medibank have cheaper options.
Cons
CUA hospital policies are more expensive than those offered by other health funds for the same tier.
Gold hospital cover isn't available stand-alone – it has to be bundled with an extras policy.
CUA is no longer offering health insurance, after being acquired by HBF. However, the information on this page has been kept for the benefit of existing customers. Read our full review of HBF or compare health insurance from 30+ providers here.
Good value CUA policies
These are some good value hospital policies from CUA, including one from the Basic and Silver tiers along with a top extras policy.
*Quotes are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income, $500 excess and living in Sydney.
CUA health insurance: Our verdict
CUA has a range of comprehensive hospital policies, but they come at a premium. CUA health insurance will soon become part of HBF, after being sold in early 2021.
CUA is good if:
You're looking for comprehensive hospital cover from a not-for-profit fund.
You want a very comprehensive extras policy for dental.
CUA is not great if:
You're looking for affordable hospital cover – there are cheaper alternatives in every tier.
You need a stand-alone Gold policy.
Review by our insurance and innovations editor Gary Ross Hunter.
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Basic Saver Plus Hospital. This entry level hospital cover comes with a $500 excess, an extra 2% to 10% discount if you're between 18-29 years old and includes services like miscarriage and termination of pregnancy, joint reconstructions and more.
Bronze Plus Hospital. This level of cover includes all the care you get with bronze, as well as extra services including sleep studies, lung and chest, skin and more, which aren't usually available at this level of cover.
Standard Hospital (Silver Plus). A higher level of cover, Silver Plus protects you for all of the Basic services, plus cardiac-related services, diabetes management, cancer treatment and more. An excess applies of your choice, either $500 or $750.
Premium Hospital Non-Obstetrics (Silver Plus). Comprehensive cover (excluding pregnancy, reproductive services and weight loss surgery) This hospital cover is for those looking for a wide range of cover but still looking for a more affordable alternative to gold cover. You can select a $250, $500 or $750 excess to reduce your premium.
Premium Select Hospital (Silver Plus). Comprehensive cover that includes pregnancy as well as other services such as eye (cataracts) and tonsils, adenoids and grommets. You can choose from a $500 or $750 excess.
Ultimate Hospital (Gold). CUA Health's top hospital policy, this option covers a wide range of treatments and services including pregnancy (including childbirth), IVF and weight loss surgery. It comes with a $500 excess.
Extras coverage
50% Extras. Basic Extras cover for Dental and Physiotherapy at the healthcare provider of your choice, and receive 50% back of each treatment cost, up to a combined $500 limit per year.
Essential Extras. Covering common extra services such as dental (with bonus dental for kids), optical, physiotherapy and chiropractic services, plus alternative therapy.
60% Extras. Get 60% back on your treatment costs for major dental and a $500 combined limit for Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Wellness Benefits and Alternative Therapy.
Classic Extras. For those looking for a wide range of extras cover, Classic Extras include podiatry, psychology, dietetics and nutrition, and bonus dental for kids and adults.
75% Extras. Cover for the full range of services, you'll receive 75% back of the cost of your treatment on each visit, up to your annual limit.
Total Extras. Comprehensive extras cover for those wanting a complete health insurance solution for out of hospital services. It includes generous annual benefit limits on general and major dental (including orthodontics), optical, physiotherapy, and much more.
Combined coverage
Healthy Start Package (Basic Plus). Great for the young, fit and healthy, it's the ideal cover to get you started and includes a Healthy Start Bonus to increase your benefits on extras.
CUA health insurance complaints
We looked at the 2022 Ombudsman health insurance complaints. Here's how CUA stacked up:
Proportionally, CUA received fewer complaints than its market share.
CUA is some way from the worst performer, scoring higher than funds like HCF, AIA and Australian Unity.
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. CUA Health is third overall in this ranking. The weighting ensures that funds are compared fairly; larger funds serve more customers so can potentially get more complaints.
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CUA frequently asked questions
Yes, CUA is a not-for-profit fund. It will soon be part of one of Australia's largest not-for-profit health funds, HBF.
CUA offers some Hospital and Extras discount options to people under 30.
New Extras covers. From 1 April 2019, additional Extras options became available, providing younger members with lower price points when choosing to buy Extras cover for the first time.
Hospital health cover discounts for younger members. CUA is adopting hospital health cover discounts of up to 2% for every year a member is under 30 years of age, and up to 10% for 18-25 year olds.
CUA offers a range of benefits for its members.
Cover for kids until the age of 23. Your children are covered on family or single-parent policies until the age of 23 or 25 if they're studying full time.
Extra dental for kids. CUA extras provide additional benefits to help cover routine dental services for children. There is no-gap up to a total value of $250 per visit for 2 visits a year.
Choose your own provider. CUA does not have any preferred providers, so you are free to choose any registered health care provider you want.
Up to 20% off at OPSM. CUA Health members can take advantage of 20% off lenses and lens extras, 15% off non-prescription sunglasses, 10% off contact lenses purchased in-store and 5% off contact lenses purchased online.
Up to 25% off at Specsavers. CUA Health members can enjoy 25% off a single pair of glasses from the Specsavers $149 or above range plus 20% off lens options and free digital retinal photography.
Discount for CUA members. CUA offers a 4% discount on health insurance if you pay your premiums via direct debit from a CUA transaction account.
Discounts for CUA home loan customers. If you also have a CUA Rate Breaker Home Loan, you're entitled to enjoy 1 month of free CUA Health Insurance premiums each year.
Increasing benefit limits. If you choose Total Extras, CUA Health's top extras cover option, the maximum benefit limit for physiotherapy, chiropractic and wellness benefits increases each year for the first 3 years of cover.
Range of excess options. CUA Health offers hospital cover policies with a range of excess options available. By choosing a policy with an excess, you can enjoy lower premiums.
Competitions. CUA Health members can also access exclusive competitions.
CUA also provides a number of wellness benefits. These include:
Weight control. This includes CUA Health approved weight management programs.
Exercise classes and gym membership benefit. This is intended for CUA members whose doctor has prescribed an exercise program.
Health checks and screenings. You can claim benefits for doctors health checks and Healthy Heart checks.
Health association fees and subscriptions. You can claim benefits for a number of health management programs including Coeliac Society, Diabetes Australia, Heart Foundation, Arthritis Foundation, Australian Breastfeeding Association and more.
Quit smoking. CUA also supports a number of quit smoking programs, including hypnotherapy and nicotine replacement therapy.
Learn to swim. You can get swimming lessons at an AUSTSWIM or a Swim Australia-recognised centre.
Travel vaccinations. You can get cover for travel vaccinations, whenever they are not claimable under Medicare.
Mammograms. If it is not covered by Medicare, CUA can pay benefits towards mammograms.
Travel expenses. You can claim travel expenses within Australia for hospital admissions when you're away from your residence and the return trip is more than the kilometres specified in the Member Guide.
There are several ways you can lodge an extras claim with CUA Health:
In person. If the health care provider supports the HICAPS system, you can swipe your CUA Health membership card on the spot to claim instantly.
Via the CUA Health app. You can submit your claim via the CUA Health Mobile Claiming app by uploading a photo of your receipt. Claims of under $300 will be assessed immediately and the funds transferred to your bank account.
Online. You can log in to the CUA Health Online Services portal to upload a photo of your receipt and submit your claim. Claims of under $300 will be assessed immediately, and the funds transferred to your bank account.
At a CUA branch. You can lodge your claim in person at your nearest CUA branch.
By fax or mail. You can also complete a claim form and then return it, along with your receipt, to CUA Health by fax or post.
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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