Combined hospital and extras cover
Health insurance comes in hospital and extras cover, and you can buy them as a combined policy.
Key takeaways
- Compare combined hospital and extras policies side by side to see if one fund offers better value for both types of cover
- Check that your hospital tier and extras inclusions align with your lifestyle and income to avoid paying for benefits you won’t use
- Look beyond bundled deals since mixing hospital and extras from different funds can often lower your monthly cost
*Prices are based on a single individual with less than $105,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
The table below lists some combined health insurance policies from Finder partners, covering accidents, emergency ambulance, dental and more. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $105,000 income and living in Sydney.
What are hospital, extras and combined cover?
Hospital only
Hospital cover pays for hospital treatment during illness or injury, including accommodation, surgery and other costs.
Extras only
Extras helps pays for non-hospital treatments that are not covered by Medicare, including optical, dental, physio and more.
Combined
Hospital and extras covers both types of treatment, giving you comprehensive coverage for a huge range of medical costs.Do I need both hospital and extras cover?
Not everyone needs a combined policy, and you may not even need health insurance at all. However, there are some life stages where people generally start to think about whether they need life insurance.
If you're young and healthy, you may only need basic hospital cover, but may still want comprehensive extras, like dental and physio. If you're older, then hospital cover may be a higher priority for you. Other important differences include the following:
- Earn over $90k? Not having sufficient hospital cover when your income is above a specified level attracts a Medicare Levy Surcharge, while extras does not.
- Turning 31? You are charged a Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading of 2% for every year you don’t take out hospital cover after you turn 31 years of age. Extras policies don't have this penalty applied.
What can you claim on combined hospital and extras cover?
A combined hospital and extras policy covers you for in-hospital services that are also covered by Medicare. You can be claim for up to 38 services depending on the level of cover you choose (e.g. basic, bronze, silver or gold).
Extras, on the other hand, lets you claim in-hospital services that typically aren't covered by Medicare. This can include things such as dental, physiotherapy, opticals and remedial massage.
How to mix and match
Mixing and matching your hospital and extras options is the best way to get the most out of your benefits. Say for example you're young and healthy and don't need a high level of hospital cover but still want peace of mind knowing that you have hospital cover. Add to this that you like to get a remedial massage, need glasses and are fastidious about your teeth and see the dentist a couple of times a year. In this hypothetical situation, you can choose a basic tier hospital policy with comprehensive extras.
To go a step further, when you're comparison shopping, make sure you're looking beyond just one provider for both options. You might find a better deal by taking out your hospital with one fund and your extras with another.
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