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Prescription glasses and contact lenses aren’t covered by Medicare, which is why it’s important to take out extras cover from a private health fund.
Private health insurance provides cover for an extensive range of optical services and treatments. Get money back on glasses, contact lenses or those prescription sunnies you've been meaning to get.
Below are a few of the Finder partners that cover Optical in extras. We've displayed the yearly limit. They also include other benefits such as dental – using the range of extras covered is a great way to get value for money.
Simply refine your search by "Optical" on the results page.
Australian private health funds provide cover for a wide range of optical services and treatments through their extras cover policies. some of these include:
If you want cover for major optical procedures, for example cataract or eye lens surgery, you’ll need to take out hospital cover from a private health fund. These services are typically only included in high-level hospital cover policies, which attract higher premiums than basic policies.
However, it’s important to remember that levels of cover vary between funds and that some services only receive restricted cover, for example laser eye surgery. It’s essential to read the fine print associated with your policy to work out exactly what is and isn’t covered.
Australian private health funds will pay benefits for prescription glasses and/or contact lenses purchased from the vast majority of registered optical dispensers and eyewear stores across the country. If you’re ever in doubt about whether a particular purchase will be covered, check with your health fund for confirmation.
However, if you prefer to do your shopping online, be warned that not all online optical retailers will be covered by your fund. With this in mind, check to see whether your health fund provides a list of online optical stores where you can buy the products you need and still access a full or partial refund.
If you need prescription sunglasses, these will be covered by your health fund in the vast majority of cases. Check with your health fund to confirm this before parting with any money.
However, non-prescription sunglasses are typically not included in your extras cover, but you may still be able to take advantage of discounted sunnies thanks to your health fund’s partnership with an eyewear retailer.
If you’re thinking of undergoing laser eye surgery so you can wave a permanent goodbye to prescription glasses and contact lenses, you should be aware that:
Even if your health fund says it covers laser eye surgery, check the fine print for more information on exactly how much of the total cost of the procedure will be covered. Also, keep in mind that:
* The products compared on this page are chosen from a range of offers available to us and are not representative of all the products available in the market. There is no perfect order or perfect ranking system for the products we list on our Site, so we provide you with the functionality to self-select, re-order and compare products. The initial display order is influenced by a range of factors including conversion rates, product costs and commercial arrangements, so please don't interpret the listing order as an endorsement or recommendation from us. We're happy to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions, but we'd like you to make your own decisions and compare and assess products based on your own preferences, circumstances and needs.
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