What can IMAN health insurance do for you?
IMAN is a health insurance provider specialising in cover for internationals in Australia. Their focus is on easy, efficient and cost-effective healthcare that gives you the cover you need without unwanted extras. IMAN is underwritten by nib and uses the same expansive private hospital network.
Why should I consider IMAN Health Insurance?
- To get a 457 working visa in Australia you must have a suitable private health insurance policy. Fortunately, every single IMAN product is right for this. If you want health insurance for your 457 visa, you can’t go wrong with IMAN.
Am I entitled to public health care?
Australia’s free public healthcare system, Medicare, is only for permanent residents and Australian citizens. Everyone else must either pay medical costs with their own money or have private health insurance with a company like IMAN. To keep people safe while they’re in Australia, immigration law requires people on a working visa to have their own private health insurance policy.
IMAN health insurance options
IMAN is all about health insurance for visitors to Australia. No matter which option you choose, it will meet your visa requirements, so you don’t need to worry about this when comparing policies. Instead you should look at what is covered and how it’s covered.
What is covered?
- Hospital: All IMAN policies will cover hospital accommodation and treatments, including any hospital treatments that are also covered by Medicare. This is generally the most important and essential part of a health insurance policy. To make sure it’s right for more people, IMAN insurance lets you turn singles policies into partner policies, which means you pay extra but your limits are increased and your partner is also covered under the same plan.
- Ambulance: In Queensland and Tasmania, ambulance costs for residents are paid by the government. As a visitor to Australia, or someone in another state, there are usually some ambulance costs that health insurance can cover.
- Doctor: Your GP is usually the first person to go to for health issues, and it is often important to have health insurance which pays for this.
- Physio and chiro: Physiotherapy and chiropractics are effective at treating many conditions, but are not paid for by Medicare or standard hospital health insurance. However, many policies will offer it as an extra.
- Dental: More extensive dental work and treatments involving orthodontics, periodontics or endodontics typically need private health insurance to cover them. Because dental work can be very important but expensive, this type of cover is often recommended.
- Optical: Many private health insurance policies offer optical cover. This means they pay some or all of the costs of glasses or contact lenses, as well as certain optometrist visits, eye tests and other costs. If you need glasses or are otherwise vision-impaired then this type of cover might save you money.
To be eligible for IMAN visitor cover health insurance, you must:
- Be in reasonable health at the time of application and have no dangerous pre-existing medical conditions
- Hold a temporary resident visa subclass to visit Australia
- Be age 16 or older, unless specially approved
Budget Visitor Cover
Get a cheap health insurance policy that meets your visa requirements, and don’t pay extra for benefits you don’t want. The all-important hospital and ambulance cover are included and nothing else.
- Starting from $17.20 per week
- Pays 100% of the cost of overnight and same-day hospital stays, ward fees, operating theatre and intensive care costs
- No extras available
Value Plus Visitor Cover
Get more benefits with an inexpensive policy that covers hospital essentials as well as offering more out-of-hospital care.
- Starting from $22.50 per week
- Pays 100% of hospital costs, to a limit, at nib/IMAN agreement hospitals
- Pays minimum default benefits at non-agreement private hospitals and public hospitals, which may result in out-of-pocket expenses
- MBS applies. This policy will only pay the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) minimum for doctor’s visits. If your doctor visit costs more than this there may be out-of-pocket expenses
- Prescription medicine extra available, for 100% cost-back on up to $500 of prescription medicine per year
Basic Visitor Cover
Enjoy a high level of hospital cover and doctor access with IMAN basic visitor cover. This covers more costs at more hospitals for security in day-to-day health.
- Starting from $31.00 per week
- Pays 100% of the cost of overnight and same-day hospital stays, ward fees, intensive care and operating theatre costs
- MBS applies. This policy will only pay the MBS minimum for visits to the GP
- Prescription medicine extra available. Get 100% of the cost back on pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) listed prescriptions, up to $500 a year
Mid Visitor Cover
Take advantage of high-level hospital cover and good extras to stay active while in Australia without losing your peace of mind.
- Starting from $60 per week
- Pays 100% of the cost of overnight and same-day hospital stays, ward fees, operating theatre and intensive care costs
- Comes with extras including 100% money back on up to $1,000 of prescription pharmaceuticals and artificial aids per person each year, and $1,000 of physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy sessions per year
Top Visitor Cover
Get a comprehensive health insurance policy for hospital cover and a wide range of extras to suit your needs with Top Visitor Cover, IMAN’s highest level of cover available.
- Starting from $72.00 per week
- Pays 100% of the cost of overnight and same-day hospital stays, ward fees, intensive care and operating theatre costs
- Extras include artificial aids, prescription pharmaceuticals, physiotherapy, chiropractics, osteopathy, optical, dental, dietetics, home nursing, occupational therapy, podiatry, natural therapies, laser eye surgery, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs and more
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| Physio and chiro |
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| Dental |
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What will IMAN health insurance not cover?
IMAN is specially designed for visitors to Australia, but like any other health insurance it has exclusions, limits and waiting periods to be aware of.
- Exclusions are when there will be no cover, and no benefits paid.
- Limits are the maximum amounts you can claim for certain benefits.
- Waiting periods are a restriction which require you to hold the policy for a length of time, usually 2-12 months, before you can claim benefits for particular things.
IMAN exclusions
These health insurance policies will not pay for:
- Anything that happened while your policy was suspended or in arrears, such as if you were behind on premium payments
- Services or treatments undertaken outside of Australia
- Outpatient (at home or outside of hospital) medical services when you are also entitled to Medicare benefits
- Treatments or services where your medical practitioner did not give their provider number
- Claims that contain any fraudulent, false or misleading information
- Services rendered in nursing homes
- Where you can claim money for the same thing from elsewhere, such as from a legal liability settlement, CTP car insurance, other health insurance policies or workers’ compensation
- Luxury room charges like TV and beauty treatments
- Outpatient respite care
- Take-home items like medication, crutches or other health aids, unless explicitly covered, such as by Top Visitor Cover extras
- Autologous blood collection and storage, and egg storage
- Expenses incurred within waiting periods
- Medication purchased without a prescription that is not on the PBS, and medicine purchased in bulk that lasts beyond the length of your insurance policy
- Expenses related to medical exams, x-rays, inoculation and other procedures required to obtain, renew or extend your visa, obtain permanent residency or travel outside of Australia
- Any expense that exceeds the annual limits of your policy
- Treatments referred by or provided by your spouse or a family member
- Multiple treatments from the same provider on the same day
- In-hospital services or items not covered by Medicare, such as high-cost or experimental drugs, or certain items associated with robotic surgery
IMAN limits
Your policy will have annual limits which will run down over the course of the year as you make claims. These get topped up again every policy anniversary. Note that these limits only apply to IMAN visitor health cover plans, and are not typical of most health insurance policies.
- $1 million is your total annual limit for all IMAN plans. All 457 visa approved health insurance policies must offer at least this amount. This is the total amount of cover you have available each year.
- Your annual limit for pharmaceuticals is equivalent to that offered by the PBS. This is generally adequate for general purposes. If you have special medication needs, or want extra security, then you can purchase a pharmaceutical prescriptions extra with all policies except Budget Visitor Cover. This extra adds an additional $500-$1,000 to your pharmaceutical limit per year.
- Other extras like chiro, physio, naturopathy and health aids will have their own annual limits, if purchased. These usually have a $1,000 per year limit, or $2,000 for couples or family policies.
IMAN waiting periods
Waiting periods generally apply to all health insurance policies. After taking out a policy, this is how long you must wait before you can claim certain hospital benefits.
- Ambulance cover: 0 days, no waiting period
- Inpatient (at hospital) psychiatric treatment: 2 months
- Inpatient palliative care treatment: 2 months
- Inpatient treatment for pre-existing conditions: 12 months
- Rehabilitation: 2 months
Optional extras also come with their own waiting periods.
- The waiting period for outpatient PBS pharmaceuticals, wheelchairs, crutches, general extras like acupuncture, chiro, physio, optical and other ancillary services like general dental work is 2 months.
- The waiting period for major dental and orthodontics is 6 months.
- The waiting period for pregnancy and birth-related services, funeral benefits and laser eye surgery is 12 months.
- Hearing aids and speech processors carry a 36-month waiting period.
What makes IMAN health insurance so good for visitors to Australia?
IMAN is only for visitors to Australia and temporary residents, and offers a lot of great benefits here.
- All IMAN health insurance policies meet the requirements of Australia’s immigration department. This means you can simply look for the policy that’s most ideal for your needs without worrying about whether or not it meets 457 visa requirements.
- It gives you options for partner and family cover as well, meaning you can get cover for your spouse and children with the same policy.
- IMAN gives “credit for time away” if you go overseas from Australia, such as if you’re visiting home. This health insurance will not cover you outside of Australia, so if you’re going to be out of the country for between 4 and 6 weeks, and apply in advance, you can get discounts for this period. However, if you leave the country for more than 10 weeks, your policy will be cancelled.
- If you are planning on becoming a permanent resident, you can convert your IMAN health insurance policy for visitors to an nib policy for permanent residents, and enjoy special discounts, continuity of cover and recognition of waiting periods served.
- Most IMAN policies will pay benefits for medical repatriation, which is when you have to be repatriated to your home country with special medical requirements. Should you pass away while in Australia, some policies will also pay funeral benefits and the cost of transporting your remains back home.
- IMAN works with the department of immigration to make it easy. You can apply online while overseas to make sure you’re covered as soon as you arrive in Australia, and IMAN will send you any department of immigration paperwork to be filled out.
How to make a claim with IMAN
Even with claims, IMAN tries to make things easier for you.
Claiming general medical expenses
Download the IMAN claims form and mail it in along with your original invoices and receipts.
Claiming hospital stays
If you go to hospital, IMAN can arrange payment with them directly. Simply ask the hospital receptionist or admissions officer to call IMAN on 1800 22 11 33 and provide details of the account.
Paying providers and GPs
Most doctors, specialists and chemists will require payment at the time of consultation or when dispensing medications. If your policy covers this then you can pay them up-front and send in a claims form later for IMAN to reimburse you.
