Stake claims before health extras policy limits reset

PRIVATE health insurance members have just three weeks left to maximise their extras cover before it resets on January 1.

Physio visits, dental checkups or a new set of spectacles are among the many things members can claim.

The latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority statistics show about 13.5 million Australians hold extras cover, and claimed an average $422 to the year to September.

Dentist visits are the most popular claim – on average about $223 was paid to each member. This was followed by optical ($73), physiotherapy ($35) and chiropractic visits ($24).

Comparison website iSelect’s spokeswoman, Laura Crowden, has warned members that most insurers reset their limits after December 31. This means any value left does not roll over on January 1, so they should act quickly to use up their cover.

“With the new year fast approaching, now is the time to make sure you’ve got maximum value out of your extras over the past 12 months,” she said.

“Check your claims history to see what you’ve already claimed and what you still have available.”

Health insurance policies are set to get a major overhaul next year. Hospital cover will be categorised into gold, silver and bronze levels to make it easier to members to work out what they are covered for.

But extras cover will not be categorised.

Ms Crowden also warned members that some natural therapies would no longer be covered from April 1 next year.

This includes aromatherapy, naturopathy, pilates (this may still be claimable under physiotherapy) and yoga.

Medibank has more than 3.7 million members and its chief customer officer, David Koczkar, said it was important members checked to see what value they had left waiting to be claimed before the year’s end.

“We want our customers to get the most out of their health insurance,” he said.

“That’s why we encourage them to keep an eye on their limits.”

Not all funds reset extras limits on January 1 – Medibank’s subsidiary fund, AHM, does it on July 1.

Bupa director of customer experience Sally Damiani said many of its four million customers could check their remaining limits in real time and should optimise any value they had left.

“We encourage our customers to check their remaining limits on their extras cover to ensure they are getting value from their cover,” she said.