If you’ve recently become an Australian permanent resident, congratulations! You are now eligible for full Medicare benefits within Australia.
This means your Overseas Visitors Health Cover will no longer meet your health cover needs, since it is designed for visitors who do not have access to Australia’s public Medicare system.
The good news is that you can now change your policy to a domestic health insurance product - and potentially save some money too, thanks to the Australian Government rebate on Private Health Insurance. We have a range of great value private hospital cover options to choose from and the best place to start from is our hospital cover comparison table, so you can work out which cover will best suit your needs and budget.
To get started, you will need to provide HIF with your Medicare details by completing an Australian Federal Government Rebate on Private Health Insurance application form.
To avoid adding unnecessary Lifetime Health Cover Loading to the cost of your Hospital cover, members over the age of 30 will also need to provide a copy of their Medicare registration date letter, also known as a Lifetime Health Cover Applicable Date Letter. For more, please contact Medicare (Services Australia) or visit your local Medicare branch.
This is to meet requirements set by the Australian Government, which states that to avoid paying Lifetime Health Cover loading, new residents must join private Hospital cover within 12 months of Medicare eligibility being granted. As it can take between 4 to 6 weeks for Medicare to post the Lifetime Health Cover Applicable Date Letter to you, please go ahead and apply for your domestic health insurance policy, then simply scan and email us a copy of the letter after you have received it to hello@hif.com.au.
Ready to set up a domestic health insurance policy?
We’re here to help! Simply give us a call on 1300 134 060 and one of our friendly Member Care Advisors will be able to assist you in the application over the phone.
Alternatively, you can join online; just remember to complete the joining process as if you’re a new member. Please answer 'No' to the question 'Are you a current HIF member?'. When we receive your application, the system will recognise that you are currently on an overseas policy with us and we will credit all the premiums paid in advance and waiting periods served over to your new domestic policy.
If you don’t already hold an Extras insurance product, we can help you with that too. Extras is always a great choice as it covers you for additional services, such as dental, optical, physiotherapy, gym memberships and more. Check out our extras comparison table to find out more.
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