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GMHBA health insurance review
Our verdict: GMHBA is a reliable not-for-profit fund, with AIA Vitality on some hospital policies. It has good value Silver hospital coverage and some good extras policies for dental and hearing aids, but there are cheaper alternatives for Basic, Bronze and Gold policies.
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Pros
Access to AIA Vitality on some polices, so you can be rewarded for being healthy.
Good value at the Silver Plus tier. "Silver Plus Hospital" covers 34 treatments from around $125.30 a month ($500 excess).
The "Basic Extras" policies have a $1,000 limit for dental, from around $21.15 a month.
"Mid Extras" is one of the cheapest policies to cover hearing aids, from around $44.25 a month.
Cons
GMHBA's "Basic Extras" policies don't cover chiropractic services, psychology or remedial massage, which is covered by comparable policies from funds like Bupa and Frank.
*Quotes are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income, $500 excess and living in Sydney.
GMHBA health insurance: Our verdict
GMHBA is a reliable not-for-profit fund that has a range of good value plans, especially if you're able to take advantage of the rewards offered through AIA Vitality.
GMHBA is good if:
You want a hospital policy with AIA Vitality, that rewards and motivates you to lead a healthy lifestyle.
You want a cheap extras policies with a high claim limit for dental. Either of GMHBA's "Basic Extras" policies will fit the bill.
GMHBA is not great if:
You want a cheap extras policy that has a benefit for chiropractic services, psychology or remedial massage.
You want a cheap Basic, Bronze or Gold hospital policy. In each of these tiers there are competitors that offer more coverage for a lower price.
Review by our insurance and innovations editor Gary Ross Hunter.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
Compare prices from 30+ Aussie funds in under 30 seconds.
GMHBA health insurance complaints
We looked at the 2022 Ombudsman health insurance complaints. Here's how GMHBA stacked up:
Among Australia's 19 biggest insurers, GMHBA had the 13th largest complaint ratio, which is a bad thing.
While GMHBA did have a proportionally large number of complaints, other health funds had more, including Australian Unity, HIF and HCF.
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. GMHBA is tenth 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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GMHBA frequently asked questions
Yes, GMHBA is a not-for-profit health fund. It was originally founded in 1934 in Geelong by a group of workers from the Australian Cement Company.
AIA Vitality is a rewards program, included on most GMHBA hospital policies. With AIA Vitality, you'll get:
Discounts on shopping, flights, spa treatments and more.
Steep discounts on your gym membership.
The opportunity to earn hundreds of dollars in gift certificates.
Access to a website and app where you can learn healthy habits and track your health.
In this video, Finder's Kate Brown breaks down some of the pros and cons of AIA Vitality.
GMHBA members can lodge an extras claim in the following ways:
By swiping their membership card. You can swipe your GMHBA membership card at the provider when paying the account to claim instantly.
Online. You can claim online through the GMHBA member self-service centre.
At a GMHBA branch. Take your itemised receipt and/or account to your nearest GMHBA branch.
By post. Download a claim form from the GMHBA website, complete it and return it to the health fund along with your itemised receipt and/or account.
At a Medicare office. You can also lodge a claim at your nearest Medicare branch. It will then be sent to GMHBA for processing.
If you need to make a claim for medical costs, the claims process differs depending on whether or not your doctor participates in GMHBA's Gap Cover Scheme. If the doctor does participate, the bill for your medical costs will be sent to Medicare and GMHBA. If the doctor does not participate, you'll need to follow these steps:
Take your bill and paperwork to Medicare to receive a medical statement and a cheque.
Send the medical statement to GMHBA.
GMHBA will send you a cheque for payment.
Send the cheques from Medicare and GMHBA to your doctor.
The doctor will bill you for any expenses not covered by Medicare and your health fund.
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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