Health Insurance 4

Hospital cover pays:
Some of the doctors’ fees.
A benefit for accommodation.
Some treatment costs in hospitals the fund has an agreement with.
It may not include cover for other costs such as phone calls or television sets.
Extras/ancillary cover contributes to:

The cost of non-hospital treatments that aren’t covered by Medicare. This usually includes dental or physiotherapy treatment and products like glasses and contact lenses. It may also include less common treatments such as acupuncture or podiatry.
The range of benefits paid varies between funds, and the payout is unlikely to cover the whole cost of the treatment.

Broader health cover
Traditionally private health insurance covered in-hospital treatments under hospital insurance policies and other treatments not covered by Medicare, such as optical or dental care, under 'extras' ('ancillary') policies. Since 2007 they can cover a whole range of out-of-hospital treatments under an existing or a newly designed policy. New types of services covered can include:

Out-of-hospital provision of services such as chemotherapy at home. An out-of-hospital option gives patients and doctors the choice to decide whether it’s more suitable for chemotherapy to occur in the home or in a hospital. Under the new legislation, such services are expected to become more common.
Services substituting hospitalisation — for example, early discharge programs combined with nursing care at home, such as wound dressing for patients recovering from an operation. This can also cover midwives providing post-natal services and nurses treating bedsores.
Disease management programs for people with a chronic illness, such as diabetes or heart disease. Over the last few years a number of funds have introduced programs to help chronically ill people better manage their health and limit the amount of time they need to spend in hospital.
Prevention and support programs for people at high risk of developing a chronic disease. For example, a number of funds have introduced free online health information.
If you’re interested in out-of-hospital services, preventative treatment and health management programs, and/or suffer from a chronic disease such as a heart condition or diabetes, contact your health fund to check whether it has a program or policy available that would suit your needs.

Go to Health Insurance 1, 2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10