Health insurance for drug and alcohol treatments

Treatments for drug and alcohol addiction are available on gold hospital policies. Alternatively, there is some support available via Medicare or via support services that the government offers.

Who is this cover for?

Key takeaways

  • Drug and alcohol treatment is available on gold hospital policies, under psychiatric care. However be aware that waiting periods of 2 months apply unless you're eligible for the mental health waiver.
  • The Australian government has a range of free support services available to help those with drug and alcohol addiction.
  • If you can't afford private health insurance, help is available via Medicare but this is limited.

Health insurance that covers drug and alcohol rehab

1 - 10 of 10
Name and lozenges Finder Score Treatments Price
Medibank Gold Protect
Gold$750 excess
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$321.65
per month
Go to SiteView details
Frank Gold Hospital
Gold$750 excess
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$327.65
per month
Go to SiteView details
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$331.00
per month
Go to SiteView details
Medibank Gold Protect
Gold$500 excess
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$345.85
per month
Go to SiteView details
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$351.80
per month
Go to SiteView details
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$361.80
per month
Go to SiteView details
advanced hospital gold
Gold$750 excess
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$363.40
per month
Go to SiteView details
Medibank Gold Protect
Gold$250 excess
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$383.35
per month
Go to SiteView details
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$386.05
per month
Go to SiteView details
advanced hospital gold
Gold$500 excess
Finder score
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
$398.05
per month
Go to SiteView details
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Showing 10 of 10 results

All prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney.

Finder Score - Hospital cover health insurance

Each month we analyse over 10,000 hospital insurance products and rate each one on price and features. What we end up with is a nice round number out of 10 that helps you compare hospital cover a bit faster.

Before we start scoring, we need to make sure we're comparing like-for-like. Just as it doesn't make sense to compare a bicycle with a Ferrari, it doesn't make sense to compare basic hospital policies to top-tier Gold policies. Each policy is given a price score and feature score. These are then combined to determine each policies's Finder Score.

Read the full Finder Score methodology

How does private health insurance work for drug and alcohol treatments

There are many different types of treatment available for drug and alcohol addiction and a gold hospital policy can help in covering the costs of this. These kinds of treatments are typically covered under the following categories of your policy:

  • In hospital accommodation (sometimes referred to as in-patient care)
  • Psychiatric care

It's important to note that outpatient rehabilitation is not covered by private health insurance. Even the treatments that are covered may still carry out of pocket expenses as every insurer has benefit limits that will apply. Additionally, a gold policy will typically have waiting periods of 2 months before you can access these services, however, there are some exceptions if you're eligible for the mental health waiver. There's more information about that further down the page.

Drug and alcohol addiction treatments

TreatmentDescriptionHow a gold health insurance policy can help
Withdrawal or detoxificationCeasing drug and alcohol use, while minimising side-effects and the risk of harm.If this is taking place in a hospital, private health insurance can cover your in-patient costs (hospital bed, medications used while in hospital).
PharmacotherapySubstitution of a harmful drug with medication to reduce cravings and the risk of overdose.If this takes place in a hospital, you'd be covered under 'in-patient' treatments.
CounsellingDifferent approaches include talking through your problems and learning how to change the way you think and deal with difficult situations.Health insurance doesn't cover this unless it's in a hospital with a psychiatrist
Rehabilitation programsA long-term approach to achieving a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle, with no further medication provided once withdrawal is successfully completed.If this rehab is done in a hospital, you may be covered under 'in-hospital treatments', 'rehabilitation' or 'psychiatry'.
Complementary therapiesTreatments such as relaxation therapies and natural remedies, which can be useful in managing withdrawal symptoms.Health insurance won't cover this.
Support groupsSupport programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics AnonymousHealth insurance doesn't cover this. They're typically free community groups.

Government support for drug and alcohol help

The Australian government has a range of support services available to help those who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. These services are also available to those who are affected by someone else's addiction.

Free support

If you or someone you care about is experiencing problems with drugs or alcohol, the below help lines are available for counseling, treatment, information and support.

  • National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline - 1800 250 015
  • Counselling Online - this allows you to chat online or email a counsellor 24/7
  • Family Drug Support - 1300 368 186
  • Kids Help Line - 1800 55 1800
  • Lifeline - 13 11 14
  • Hello Sunday Morning - this is an app designed to assist people with changing their relationship with alcohol.

How Medicare can cover drug and alcohol support

Mental health services are available via Medicare, but this can be limited. Every Australian resident is entitled to 10 sessions of mental health services (like a psychologist or a psychiatrist), which Medicare will cover a certain amount for. However, oftentimes, the practitioner will charge more than what Medicare covers so you're still left with some out of pocket expenses.

FAQs

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Written by

Publisher of Insurance

Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio

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