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No-gap optical

Here's how to get no-gap optical.

Other than eye exams and checkups with an optometrist, which can often be bulk-billed, optical services are not covered by Medicare.

Compare optical extras with no gap

Below are a few Finder partners that cover Optical in their extras policies. We've displayed the yearly limit, and they will have either a 2 or 6 month waiting period. They also include other benefits such as dental or physio.

Policy	Included treatments	Limit	Price	Apply
Starter Extras	Frames & lenses Contact lenses	$100	$16.25	Go to Site
Core extras	Prescription glasses Contact lenses	$250	$30.26	Go to Site
black 60	Glasses, frames, lenses, repairs, and contact lenses.	$200	$34.50	Go to Site

*Quotes are based on single individual with less than $90,000 income and living in Sydney.

Compare policies that offer optical

If you're only looking for optical cover, search for extras then on your results page select 'refine search' and tick optical.

Optical services and health insurance

Extras cover is available in several levels (basic, medium and comprehensive) and generally covers ancillary services such as optical, dental and physio up to set annual benefit limits.

What is the medical gap and how do I avoid it?

If a doctor charges a higher fee than the Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) fee for a service, the medical gap is the difference between the MBS fee and the doctor’s fee. This amount will have to be paid either by your health fund or by you.

In the case of optical services that are not listed on the MBS, the medical gap is the gap between what an optometrist charges for lenses and frames and what your private health extras cover will pay towards them.

To avoid having to pay any medical gap, you need to be with a health fund that has a no-gap scheme. A no-gap optical scheme is one where a health fund agrees to cover the medical gap if members go to a preferred optometrist or an optical dispenser with which the health fund has an arrangement. These practices charge capped prices that have been agreed upon with the health fund for a select range of lenses and frames.

Which health funds have a no-gap optical scheme?

Here are Finder's partner health funds that offer a no-gap optical option:

Fund	What’s covered?	More info
	ahm offers 100% back up to your annual limit on the cost of prescription glasses, frames, lenses, repairs, and contact lenses.	More info
	HCF offers a range of fully covered services through HCF Eyecare Centres, Dresden, or Specsavers on a range of standardd prescription glasses and one free digital retinal imaging with your eye test per calendar year.	More info
	You can claim 100% of your annual limit on prescription glasses, contact lenses or sunglasses from any optical provider in Australia with HIF.	More info
	Through its nib Eye Care Centres, nib offers members 100% back on three ranges of complete single vision prescription glasses and selected contact lenses (depending on your level of cover) with free delivery anywhere in Australia.	More info
	Transport Health offers members 100% back on a selection of single vision, bifocal and multifocal glasses from several ranges at Specsavers (depending on your level of cover).	More info

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Richard Laycock

Richard Laycock is Finder's insurance editor, and has spent the last five years wrangling insurance product disclosure statements. His musings about insurance have appeared on Money Mag, Yahoo Finance, and Travel Weekly. When he’s not helping people make sense of insurance fine print, he is testing the quality of cocktails in his newfound home of New York. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University and The Missouri School of Journalism and has a Tier 1 Certification in General Advice for Life Insurance.

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