Extras cover is also known as ancillary or general cover as it provides various benefits for services which are generally not covered by Medicare. Extras cover offers those treatments that are not covered in your hospital health care.
There are some policies which offer flexible limits, so you can comfortably spend your limits on those services that you use very often. Some of the common services covered under extras cover policies are dental, physiotherapy and optometry.
Why to choose extras cover?
Frequent trips to your physiotherapist; quarterly check-ups with your dentist; monthly check-ups at the optometrist, really adds up a bit too much to your health care expenditure. But luckily you do not have to really pay what you have to as the extras cover provides you options.
Most of health insurance plan providers offer great packages for health insurance for both extras and hospital. Here you have to make a choice to purchase them separately. It is your personal choice whether to invest in extras cover or not. Remember, going through the long list of extras health cover plans and exclusive offers can be quite tricky as the several benefits offered and their dispersal varies widely between health funds.
Comparing health insurance
The best extras health cover for your ongoing requirements like physio, chiro, dental, optical or some pharmacy costs, is limited to the choice of your policy.
The 3 categories from which you can choose are:
- Basic Cover
This plan is good for frequent users or younger members, who are quite unlikely to need extensive coverage on the services of extras.
- Comprehensive Cover
This plan is best suited if you want to be covered for a wide range of services for yourself and for your family members.
- Medium Cover
This plan is great for people whose requirement keeps changing and those that want a little more than the basic cover.
Benefits of extras cover
The best part of extras cover is – it gives you your money back for unused hospital services. The total sum of money you can claim depends on the type of health cover you have. Therefore, the higher level of your health cover; more is your annual limit, and thus the higher percentage you are likely to claim. In short, more money comes to you if you are a regular user of the extras.
Other important range of benefits will vary widely between health funds. Some health funds might restrict the total sum of money you can claim by either applying individual limits of the service or setting a total claimable limit to maximum per year. It is vital to know that funds might apply single or family limits restricting the maximum number of times, one can claim.
Remember, extras health cover can be of great value if one is making the maximum use of the services available. Try to compare extras cover health insurance policies iSelect, to get a best policy at a competitive price and get maximum benefits from your health extras cover. Choose a health fund which reflects your own lifestyle!!