Extras Cover

Extras cover is health insurance that covers you for everyday ‘non-hospital’ healthcare and medical services and treatments that aren’t covered by Medicare. So that’s things like optical, dental, physio, chiro and healthy lifestyle services, such as gym membership and quit smoking programs and other natural therapies like remedial massage and acupuncture.

What is ancillary cover?

Extras insurance is also known as ancillary cover or general treatment. It refers to “ancillary” medical services that aren’t covered by Medicare.

Extras cover gives you health insurance for medical services like dental, optical and physiotherapy that aren’t covered by Medicare. If you need these services and treatments and don’t have private health cover, you’ll have to pay the full cost out of your own pocket.

With HIF Extras cover, you can take care of your body with preventative care like check-ups and have most (or all) of the cost covered by your HIF health insurance (depending on your level of cover and policy limits). Members with active lifestyles love our Extras cover because they can access benefits for healthy lifestyle activities like gym memberships, as well as regular visits to their physio, chiro or osteo. Compare our Extras insurance policies and find one that matches your lifestyle and budget.

Extras health insurance covers a huge range medical services and treatments – you can choose the cover that includes the ones that matter most to you. In other words, the services and treatment, as well as the benefits or rebates, will vary depending on your level of cover and annual limits.

Some of our most popular Extras services are physiotherapy, optical, dental, chiropractic, speech therapy and podiatry.

Optical

With our optical cover you have choices. Your Medicare card will cover you for a free eye exam every two years, which will typically be bulk billed by the optometrist you choose (but it’s always best to check with your optometrist first). If you then need glasses or contact lenses, our Extras cover lets you claim 100% of your annual limit on the optical items you need*. Buy and claim for optical products from any registered provider in Australia and enjoy exclusive discounts from retailers and online stores.

Find out more about Optical Cover

Dental

Looking for Extras cover that includes affordable dental cover with higher rebates for the most popular dental services? Our Members told us they wanted a unique dental benefits program, so we created SmartTeeth as a way to encourage and reward Members for looking after their teeth.

Whichever level of Extras cover you choose, you’ll be covered for things like dental examinations, plaque removal and dentist-fitted mouthguards. Also, you can choose your own registered dentist, giving you better coverage and more choice!

Find out more about Dental Cover

Ambulance

Did you know that a trip in an ambulance could cost you over $900? For your peace of mind, we include 100% cover for emergency ambulance rides in our Saver, Special, Super and Premium Options Extras cover**. There’s no extra cost and no annual limit, so you’re covered when you need it!

Find out more about Ambulance Cover

Physiotherapy

Looking for Extras insurance that includes physio? You’re in luck! All of our Extras policies include physiotherapy benefits. Compare the options and choose the policy that has the level of physio cover you need.

Find out more about physiotherapy

Chiropractic

Chiropractic treatment is one of our Members’ most-used services, which is why we include chiro benefits on every level of Extras cover. This means you’re covered when you visit the chiro for help with your knees, shoulders, back and more.

Find out more about chiro

*It’s important to note that benefits are not paid on non-prescription safety glasses, protective glasses, all tinting, coatings or grinding, sunglasses, cosmetic glasses or cosmetic contact lenses, or frames not purchased via a registered Australian optical provider.

**Inter-hospital transfers, off-road or air ambulance services are not included.

Yes, our Extras policies include optical benefits that cover glasses. Our Saver, Special, Super or Premium Options Extras allow you to choose the level of optical benefits that suit your needs.

Yes, contact lenses are also covered by our Extras insurance benefits. With HIF Extras cover you have the freedom to spend your annual optical limit however you choose*, whether it’s frames, glasses or contact lenses.

*It’s important to note that benefits are not paid on non-prescription safety glasses, protective glasses, all tinting, coatings or grinding, sunglasses, cosmetic glasses or cosmetic contact lenses, or frames not purchased via a registered Australian optical provider.

Our top level of dental insurance is Premium Options Extras cover. With this Extras policy, you’re covered for 80% to 100% of the fee for the top 24 general dental services (up to a maximum benefit per item). 

General dental refers to regular dental treatments like exams, cleaning, minor fillings, bleaching and x-rays. Major dental procedures are more complex (for example, the surgical removal of wisdom teeth, orthodontics, dentures, crowns and bridges). Our Extras policies have different levels of coverage and benefits for general and major dental treatments.

Read more

Our Special, Super and Premium Options policies all include coverage for orthodontics. You can find out more on our Dental page.

Link to Dental Page

HIF covers 100% of the cost of emergency ambulance transport on our Saver, Special, Super and Premium Options Extras*. Emergency transport covers situations that require urgent attention and admission to the emergency department of a hospital. If your call-out is “non-urgent” you’ll still be covered and will only need to make a $50 co-payment.  Vital Options is a little different, though – non-urgent call-outs aren’t covered.

Read more about Ambulance Cover

*Inter-hospital transfers, off-road or air ambulance services are not included.

Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of ambulance transport, although some state governments have subsidies for specific groups. In WA, NSW and the ACT, low income earners and pensioners may have access to free cover. In TAS and QLD, the state governments cover ambulance services. In SA, VIC and NT, there are no subsidies at all, so you need private health cover if you want to be covered for emergencies.

Read more about Ambulance Cover

There are two types of health insurance: Extras cover and Hospital cover, and they can be bundled together into a combined cover. Extras cover gives you cover for non-hospital medical treatments that aren’t covered by Medicare., whereas Hospital insurance covers you for treatment as a private patient in a private or public hospital.

Read more about Hospital Cover

We want every HIF Member to enjoy a healthy and happy lifestyle. That’s why many of our Extras policies include Healthy Lifestyle Benefits that you can put towards the cost of things like gym memberships, weight management programs, skin cancer screenings and quit smoking programs. Of course, there are annual limits and your  service provider will need to meet certain criteria for you to claim these benefits – find out more here.

Read more about Healthy Lifestyle Cover

Medical appliances and external prosthesis such as hearing aids, artificial limbs, CPAP machines and TENS machines are included on Super and Premium Options Extras, our top two levels of health cover. To find out if a specific appliance can be claimed under Extras cover, phone us on 1300 13 40 60.

Read more about Appliances

All health funds have waiting periods before you can claim on health insurance, but we do our best to keep these waiting periods as short as possible. Waiting periods are the only way to protect our Members from people who may join HIF, claim for an expensive medical treatment straight away and then leave, which would affect every Member of the health fund.

No waiting periods on Extras cover

If you’re with another provider and switch to HIF and take out the same level of cover, any waiting periods you’ve already served will be taken into account and you won’t have to wait to claim with HIF.

Of course, there are some conditions. If you switch to a higher level of Extras health cover with HIF,  a waiting period will apply to the new or improved benefits provided on the higher level of cover, but you’ll still be able to claim straight away for benefits that were covered on your old insurance.

A ‘benefit limit’ is the amount we pay either per visit or annually towards a service or treatment on your applicable policy. The amount you can claim for different treatments and services will depend on your level of cover and how long you’ve been an HIF Member.

An 'annual limit' is the maximum amount of benefits payable to a member in a calendar year, commencing January 1 and ending December 31. Our annual limits are refreshed every January, allowing you to claim benefits again for Extras services provided in the new year. We’ll also reward your loyalty by increasing a number of benefits and annual limits each year you’re with us.

Your dental limits increase every year until the maximum available limit is reached in your sixth year of membership. Benefits and limits for services like optical, physio, occupational and speech therapy increase after five years, and the benefits and limits increase for remedial massage, chiro, osteo and pharmacy services after three years.

Australian residents have access to a Private Health Insurance Rebate, provided by the government. It’s designed to encourage people to take up private health cover in order to reduce costs and strains on the public health system.

The rebate works on a tiered system and varies based on your taxable income and age. You can claim the rebate in your tax return each year or, even easier, ask us to deduct it straight from your health insurance premium. Simply choose this option and nominate your income tier when you get a quote for health insurance online.

Read more about the Rebate

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