HCi Hospital Cover
// HCi HOSPITAL COVER
HCi hospital cover helps pay for any necessary hospital treatment for your and your dependants. And you choose the level of cover to suit your needs.
HCi’s Gold Hospital has got you covered with a range of excess options, no exclusions, no restrictions and no benefit limitations. You can have confidence that if you go to hospital, you can concentrate on getting better, knowing we’ll take care of the rest.
- $250 | $500 | $750
HCi’s Gold Hospital cover means you can have total confidence in your hospital cover.
- Once you have served the relevant waiting periods, HCi has got you covered for all services eligible under Medicare.
$250 | $500 | $750
- HCi’s Silver Plus Hospital cover offers Gold cover without pregnancy and some other infrequent procedures.
- If you’re not planning a baby in the near future, this cover is for you!
- Your cover will give you access to the best possible treatment.
$750
- HCi’s Bronze Hospital cover provides a simple Hospital cover that won’t break the budget.
- Please note not all procedures and services are covered.
$500 | $750
- HCi’s Basic Hospital cover is a low cost option for the absolute basics, plus the benefit of accident cover.
- This cover may reduce your tax by avoiding a Medicare levy surcharge and/or a Lifetime Health Cover loading (if you get cover before turning 31).
Accident cover
If you have an accident that requires admission to hospital for a treatment not related to any pre-existing illness, injury or condition, HCi will pay towards your treatment and accommodation fees.
For full details of HCi hospital cover options, including all terms and conditions, definitions and exclusions, please refer to our Guide to Cover.
You can combine Gold Hospital, Silver Plus Hospital, Bronze Hospital or Basic Hospital with our Extras cover for a more comprehensive package.
| Procedure |  Gold |
Silver Plus |
Bronze |
Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rehabilitation | ✔ | ✔ (R) | ✔ (R) | ✔ (R) |
| Hospital psychiatric services | ✔ | ✔ (R) | ✔ (R) | ✔ (R) |
| Palliative care | ✔ | ✔ (R) | ✔ | ✔ (R) |
| Brain and nervous system | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Eye (not cataracts) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Ear, nose and throat | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Tonsils, adenoids and grommets | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Bone, joint and muscle | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Joint reconstructions | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Kidney and bladder | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Male reproductive system | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Digestive system | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Hernia and appendix | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Gastrointestinal endoscopy | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Gynaecology | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy for cancer | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Pain management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Skin | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Breast surgery (medically necessary) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Diabetes management (excluding insulin pumps) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Heart and vascular system | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Lung and chest | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Blood | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Back, neck and spine | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Plastic and reconstructive surgery (medically necessary) | ✔ | ✔ | ✘* | ✘ |
| Dental surgery | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Podiatry surgery (provided by a registered podiatric surgeon) | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Implantation of hearing devices | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Cataracts | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Joint replacements | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Dialysis for chronic kidney failure | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Pregnancy and birth | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Assisted reproductive services | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Weight loss surgery | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Insulin pumps | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Pain management with device | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Sleep studies | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| All other inpatient services where Medicare pays a benefit | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
(R) This is a Restricted Service.
* For Bronze Hospital, plastic surgery which is medically necessary and related to the treatment of a skin-related condition is covered under the “Skin” clinical category.
Basic Hospital includes Accident Cover to help you pay for any necessary hospital admission because of an accident. An accident is any unforeseen event due to chance or caused by an external force or object, which results in an involuntary injury to the body requiring immediate or urgent medical treatment in hospital.
- What's covered
- What's not covered
- Going in to hospital - Gap cover
- Hospital cover excess options
- Hospital Search
For covered services (see table above)
- Up to 100% of hospital accommodation costs and theatre fees in all contracted hospitals and day surgery facilities in Australia.
- Up to 100% of the cost of surgically implanted prostheses (as listed by the Federal Government).
- Private room accommodation (if available).
- Up to 100% of the cost of most hospital prescriptions relating to the admission. (Subject to hospital agreement details).
- Dental theatre costs for surgical tooth extraction by an oral surgeon.
- 100% of the cost of the difference between the Medicare refund and the Commonwealth Medical Benefit Scheme (CMBS) fee for medical services provided during a hospital admission.
- Up to 100% of the cost of medical services provided during a hospital admission where the doctor charges above the Commonwealth Medical Benefit Scheme (CMBS) fee and chooses to use Access Gap Cover.
All the above applies to you and any dependants listed as part of your membership.
- Cosmetic surgery
- Extra services beyond the hospital treatment plan
- Personal expenses like phone calls, newspapers and TV rental
- Hospital services not eligible for Medicare benefits
- Pharmaceutical items supplied or prescribed on discharge
- Medicare gap (ie out of pocket expenses)
- Surgically implemented prosthesis gap
- Medical treatment provided in a doctor’s rooms out of hospital
It’s important to remember that as an Australian resident, Medicare covers public hospital treatment and emergency patients will normally go to a public hospital with Intensive Care Units.
With HCi hospital cover, you can elect to be a private patient into a public hospital.
You can choose your doctor and have a private room if available. You will still be subject to waiting lists for elective procedures.
Medical fees
Under the Commonwealth Medical Benefits Schedule (CMBS) fees are determined and accordingly split between HCi and Medicare. It is important to discuss fees with your doctor prior to treatment as there may be out of pocket expenses. If your doctor charges above the CMBS fee, HCi does not cover these expenses. Read our factsheet on The Gap for more information.
HCi hospital cover enables you to get full private hospital access to services, a doctor of your choosing at a convenient time with no waiting periods.
HCi has relationships with over 500 private hospitals and day hospital facilities around Australia. For a comprehensive list of our contracted hospitals in your local area click here
If you need specialist care in hospital your doctor can use HCi’s Access Gap Cover – a much simpler billing system to eliminate out of pocket expenses altogether or let you know exactly what you have to pay prior to treatment.
Remember to ask your doctor:
- Will you treat me under HCi’s Access Gap?
- Will I have any out-of-pocket expenses? Please provide a formal quote of these costs.
- Will any assisting doctors also use Access Gap Cover and if so, how can I obtain a quote for their services?
- Will you to send the bill to HCi directly?
See here for participating doctors.
Gap Cover and surgically implanted prostheses:
Surgically implanted prostheses are sometimes required during a medical procedure, such as a replacement lens for a cataract surgery, an artificial hip joint, a pacemaker, or a heart valve.
For medical procedures covered by Medicare, HCi fully covers the cost of at least one prostheses – this is referred to as a ‘no gap’ prostheses. However, some items listed on the Prostheses Schedule are not or only partially covered. Please review the list with your doctor prior to surgery.
| $250 Excess | $500 Excess | $750 Excess | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Silver Plus | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Bronze | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Basic | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
HCi has arrangements with the following private hospitals to minimise your out-of-pocket expenses
About the Hospital Search
HCi has agreements with most private hospitals that are likely to be accessed by members. These agreements ensure that an agreed schedule of fees (including in-patient accommodation, theatre and special unit accommodation fees as appropriate) is charged by the hospital and paid by HCi on your behalf. Please note your entitlements are affected by factors such as your level and type of cover, and the financial status of your membership. This will affect the amount HCi reimburses to the hospital.
HCi strongly recommends you contact us on 1800 804 950 to confirm your entitlement prior to receiving hospital treatment.
If you choose a non-agreement hospital, please note you may incur out-of-pocket expenses for hospital related services irrespective of your level of cover.
Please note that search results will include any private hospitals HCi has previously accepted contracts with, until HCi terminates a contract. Thus the search results will display information relating to a private hospital where the relevant contract is up for renewal but HCi has not yet decided whether or not to renew the contract. HCi uses its best endeavours to respond promptly to renewals so that search results are as accurate as is reasonably possible.
