Looking for hospital and extras cover? Compare policies from HIF and get a quote online.
The Health Insurance Fund of Australia (HIF) offer its members access to over 500 private hospitals and cover for a range of services. Compare HIF hospital, extras and overseas visitors health cover options online today.
What policies does HIF offer?
There are two major categories for health insurance: hospital cover and extras cover:
HIF Hospital
Within Hospital cover there are various options, which have increasing premiums and wider coverage. The levels of cover for HIF Insurance hospital cover are:
- GoldVital cover. This package covers shared room/private room for all covered services. Private room for maternity services is not provided. It also includes same day accommodation and theatre fees, theatre care, intensive care, appendectomy, removal of tonsils, pharmacy drugs (inpatient), prostheses, AccessGap cover, joint reconstruction, minor gynaecological services. Restricted cover is also available for palliative care, rehabilitation and psychiatric care.
- GoldStarter Hospital. This is basic-level private hospital options from HIF Insurance. It covers a range of essentials and may even help you save come tax time. It is a good policy for younger people who are not likely to need cover for cardiac or maternity procedures. Gold starter cover includes intensive care, shared rooms, theatre care, same-day accommodation, same-day theatre, prostheses and pharmacy drugs.
- GoldSaver Hospital. Suitable for young couples and families, this is a step up from GoldStarter and covers cardio thoracic and maternity and joint replacement. Cover includes all of the options covered by GoldStarter with additional cover for private room (maternity) and restricted cover for joint replacement, reproductive procedures such as IVF, and eye surgery.
- Gold Hospital. Is HIF's top shared room hospital insurance cover. Gold hospital covers all of the feature of the preceding options along with cover for theatre fees, ward fees and all other services.
- GoldStar Hospital. GoldStar Hospital is HIF's premium hospital cover and covers private room for all services, theatre fees and all ward fees.
HIF Extras
Extras cover options provide cover for services such as general dental, endodontic and periodontal. The levels of cover for extras are:
- Vital Options cover. It provides general dental, emergency ambulance and periodontal cover. Plus a 50% rebate for select services like chiropractic, osteopathic, ambulance and physiotherapy up to the limits of the policy.
- Saver Options. Additional cover includes general dental, podiatry, physiotherapy, pharmacy and optical.
- Special Options. Additional cover includes the above and major dental.
- Super Options. Additional cover includes speech therapy, psychology, peak flow meter, orthoptics, orthotics, occupational therapy, hearing aids, medical appliances, diabetics education and auxiliary home nursing.
- Premium Options. Additional cover includes a much higher benefit and no limits for several treatments. For customers who require regular extra services, this option is useful as it covers all treatment with highest benefits.
HIF Visitors and Corporate cover
HIF also have health insurance options for visitors to Australia, which provides non-Australian residents visa compliant cover and cover for businesses, which offers corporate health solutions and affordable prices.
How many members does HIF service?
HIF provides health insurance cover to more than 120,000 members. This gives it a total market share of 0.9%.
Is HIF nonprofit?
- Yes!
How many hospital agreements does HIF have in my state and in total?
If you receive hospital treatment in Australia, the benefit paid by your health fund depends on two main factors:
- The level of health insurance cover you have in place
- Whether your health fund has an agreement with the hospital where you are treated
The table below features a full list of the number of hospital agreements HIF has in place in each Australian state and territory. The industry maximum figure for all health funds is also included as a guide.
| Private hospital agreements | Day hospital agreements | |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 99 (industry maximum: 101) | 87 (industry maximum: 96) |
| ACT | 5 (industry maximum: 7) | 8 (industry maximum: 9) |
| VIC | 81 (industry maximum: 84) | 70 (industry maximum: 75) |
| QLD | 53 (industry maximum: 57) | 43 (industry maximum: 51) |
| SA | 28 (industry maximum: 29) | 24 (industry maximum: 27) |
| WA | 20 (industry maximum: 23) | 23 (industry maximum: 26) |
| TAS | 5 (industry maximum: 8) | 3 (industry maximum: 5) |
| NT | 2 (industry maximum: 2) | 1 (industry maximum: 1) |
Does HIF receive a lot of complaints?
HIF accounts for:
- 0.9% of the Australian health insurance market
- 0.7% of all complaints about benefit payments
- 0.5% of all complaints about service
- 0.4% of all complaints that require investigation
Source: Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, State of the Health Fund Report 2016
What excesses are available on HIF policies?
Excesses vary between policies:
- GoldVital hospital cover. Excess of $500 per person to a max of $1000
- GoldStarter and GoldSaver hospital cover. Excess of $200 per person to a max of $400
- Gold hospital cover. Choice of:
- $0 (no excess)
- $100 per person to a max of $200
- $200 per person to a max of $400
- $400 per person to a max of $800
- GoldStar hospital cover. Choice of:
- $0 (no excess)
- $200 per person to a max of $400 ($200/$400)
- $400 per person to a max of $800 ($400/$800)
- $500 per person to a max of $1000 ($500/$1000)
Paying your HIF health insurance premiums
There are several ways you can pay your HIF health insurance premiums:
- Direct debit. You can have your premiums automatically deducted from your bank account or credit card at a frequency that suits you. You can pay fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly (a discount of 2% applies) or yearly (a discount of 4% applies).
- Payroll deduction. HIF has payroll deduction agreements in place with many employers around Australia.
- Manual invoice. If you want to be sent an invoice whenever your contribution is due, you can pay on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis using the following methods:
- Online via BPAY
- At your nearest Australia Post office
- By phone using the POSTbillpay service
- By mail if you detach the payment slip at the bottom of your membership renewal
How can you claim on your HIF policy?
If you need to make an extras claim with HIF, there are several ways to submit your claim:
- On the spot. You can swipe your HIF membership card at your service provider’s e-terminal to claim instantly.
- By smartphone. HIF’s SmartClaim mobile app allows you to submit claims of up to $700 a day by uploading photos of your itemised accounts and receipts. The app is available for Apple and Android mobile devices.
- By email. You can submit claims of up to $700 per day by scanning a completed claim form and emailing it to claims@hif.com.au, along with your itemised accounts and receipts.
- By fax. Claims of up to $700 per day can be submitted by completing a claim form and faxing it to (08) 9328 1685, along with your itemised accounts and receipts.
By mail. You also have the option of submitting your claim by mail. You’ll need to download a claim form from the HIF website, complete it, and then mail it and the relevant accounts to HIF, GPO Box X2221, Perth, WA 6000.
Get the HIF app
| Fund | Android | iOS |
|---|---|---|
HIF |  |  |
What can't you claim on your HIF policy?
Some general exclusion for HIF insurance cover are:
- Cosmetic services. These services are excluded from all packages and have to be paid fully by members.
- Services not covered by Medicare. These services are also not covered by HIF.
- Level of cover. Only services which are included within a particular package are covered. For example, GoldSaver cover will not include podiatric services, gastric banding and obesity surgery.
- Waiting period. Different treatments have different waiting periods, during which time claims will not be accepted for these services.
Still have questions about HIF?
Compare your health insurance options from HIF
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I am a member of over 50 years and would like Bowen therapy added to the claim list as we do not use our physio allotment since having Bowen.
Has this question been asked before?
Hi Gary,
Thank you for your question.
You have contacted finder.com.au, a comparison and information service and not actually HIF Health Insurance.
You will need to contact HIF Health insurance directly to see if they intend on adding cover for Bowen Technique in the near future. If not, the Bowen Association of Australia has a list on their website of all health funds that cover that treatment.
All the best,
Zubair