It’s really easy! Enquire online, use our form or call one of our friendly member services team on Freecall 1800 804 950.

At HCi, we provide flexible health insurance to cover your particular situation – cover for you, cover for you and a partner, or cover for your family.

Family cover can be for one or two adults and their biological, adopted and step children.

Dependent children can be on your cover up to 31 years of age (inclusive) or more, depending on their circumstances.

You can transfer from another fund to HCi at any time. It’s quick and easy as we’ll help you at every step.

What’s more, if you join within 2 months of the expiration of your current cover, you will not have any new waiting periods for the same or lower level of cover with HCi. Normal fund waiting periods apply to services not covered by your previous fund cover, including pre-existing waits.

Your Certified Entry Age for the Federal Government’s Lifetime Health Cover purposes will be recognised by HCi on transfer.

It’s easy to switch to HCi,

1. When joining online or via our form make sure the Clearance Request section is completed,
2. HCi will take care of the rest!

make the switch

*When switching from a comparable level of cover.

Unfortunately not. HCi cover is only available to Australian residents who are eligible for a Medicare card. Temporary work and student visas, and those here on holiday or visiting relatives are not eligible.

You can vary your level of cover to meet your changing needs at any time.

If you increase your level of cover by adding a new option, or by increasing your cover level, or moving to a lower excess, waiting periods will apply to the higher levels of your new cover. You will, however, continue to have access to the levels of your previous cover.

You can also add or remove dependants from your cover. However, this may involve a change of policy type (eg you may need family cover instead of single when you have a baby, or to move from family cover to couple cover when your children leave home)

Most changes can be made via our policy updates form or call us for help.

Yes! As an HCi member you can access OMS – HCi’s secure Online Member Services – to manage your membership at your convenience.

OMS gives you the option to:

• Look at your membership details
• Change your address, or contact details
• Make credit card payments
• Order a new membership card
• Submit forms and other documents
• Submit claims

To register for OMS, click here and follow the link. All information passed through the secure site along with access to your membership details is protected through a password you chose and multi-factor authentication.

If you choose to cease your hospital cover, your future hospital health cover premiums will be subject to the Lifetime Health Cover provisions dealing with periods of absence. Please note that high income earners will be subject to the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) during a period of suspended hospital cover. If you’re considering cancelling or suspending your health insurance, please contact us on 1800 804 950.

Members may apply for suspension of their membership, if when applying, they have held  cover for at least 12 months and all premiums are current.

Suspension (or postponement) of membership can only be made on one of the following grounds:

• the member’s absence from Australia for travel reasons for 28 days to 2 years; or
• the member’s financial hardship for 6 months.

Hospital cover suspensions do not count towards the 1,094 days cumulative absence allowed by Lifetime Health Cover legislation. If membership is reinstated within 30 days of the suspension ending and premiums are paid from the end of the suspension period, no new waiting periods apply. For details of what you need to provide in your application for membership suspension, please call us on 1800 804 950 or catch us on HCi Chat.

Once you have seen your health practitioner (dentist, physiotherapist, doctor, etc), you can submit a claim to HCi via

• instant processing on an electronic machine at the clinic using your HCi card
• logging into OMS and uploading the receipt(s)
• uploading a photo or pdf of the receipt via the HCi Claiming App (download from your favourite app store)
• send a completed Claims form to enquiries@hciltd.com.au or submit it on OMS

In most cases extras claims are processed on the day they are received, assuming they include all the necessary information.

For further information, read our claiming page.

You can receive your HCi payments by direct credit.

If you have paid the account, your benefit can be paid electronically into your nominated bank account. You will receive separate notification as to the payment details.

If you have not paid the account, a direct credit will be made payable to the practitioner who provided the treatment.

You can add or update your banking details at any time by calling us, completing the HCi payment options form or logging into OMS.

All HCi hospital cover includes our Access Gap Cover at no extra charge, helping to reduce or eliminate Out-Of-Pocket (Gap Costs). Please refer to our AGC factsheet for full details.

HCi will not pay towards services, treatment or appliances provided or purchased overseas, including from websites not owned and operated from within Australia. HCi will only pay eligible claims for services, treatment and appliances by approved providers and/or suppliers registered within Australia only.

To help ensure the propriety of services offered to members by health care providers, benefits will only be paid for services rendered to members by providers who are recognised and approved by HCi. Recognition of providers by HCi is subject to change without notice. If you are not sure about a provider’s approved status with HCi, please call us on Freecall 1800 804 950 to check before arranging treatment.

Please note that claims will not be paid for any treatment provided by a family member, even if they are otherwise a registered provider.

Pregnancy, Obstetrics and birth related services.

A 12 month wait applies to any obstetric related services.

We also cover ‘IVF and assisted reproductive services’, although these are not part of obstetrics, instead they are treatments which precede any need for obstetric care. A 12 month waiting period applies to all IVF and assisted reproductive services where utilisation of these services generally relates to treatment of a pre-existing condition. If there is not a pre-existing condition, a 2 month waiting period applies to IVF and assisted reproductive services.

Only an admission to hospital can be covered under private hospital insurance.

Services outside of a hospital admission, including consultations and tests, may be claimable on Medicare or paid out of your own pocket.
Always check with the hospital, HCi and your doctor before proceeding with an IVF or hospital booking to ensure you will be covered and to discuss what costs you may incur.

Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) is a financial loading that can be payable in addition to the base rate premium for your private health insurance hospital cover.

Starting as a Government initiative on 1 July 2000, it was designed to encourage people to take out hospital insurance earlier in life, and to maintain their cover.

Read more on our Government incentives page.

Medicare is the scheme that gives Australian residents access to health care. To help fund the scheme, most taxpayers pay a Medicare Levy of 1.5% of their taxable income.

You may be liable for the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) in addition to the Medicare Levy. Individuals and families on incomes above the MLS thresholds, who do not have an appropriate level of private patient hospital cover, pay MLS for any period during the year that they did not have this cover. If you become liable for MLS, your MLS rate will be 1%, 1.25% or 1.5%.

For more information on the MLS please visit our Governemnt incentives page.

The Federal Government Private Health Insurance Rebate is a financial incentive to help Australians afford private health cover.

Find out more about this rebate on our Government incentives page.

The PBS subsidises the cost of various medications resulting in the consumer paying a reduced price for certain medications. These medications are reduced on average by 80%. A benefit is not payable for PBS items because they are already subsidised by the Federal Government.

Your usual benefit entitlements apply throughout Australia. Members who travel away from their home (within Australia or overseas) and fall ill may incur expenses that fall outside the range of health fund benefits, including loss of air fares, additional accommodation costs etc.

We do not offer travel insurance but strongly recommend members traveling seek advice from their travel agent or specialist travel insurer.

We welcome and value your comments on our products and service. We have a range of ways to contact us, including…

   call 1800 804 950

   email enquiries@hciltd.com.au

   visit 25 Cattley St, Burnie, TAS

If you require further explanation or have problems on matters affecting any aspect of your health insurance cover, please call us to discuss your concerns. We will endeavour to resolve your concerns to your satisfaction as quickly as possible. However, if you believe we have not addressed your issues satisfactorily, you can contact us on 1800 804 950 or email us enquiries@hciltd.com.au.