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Informed financial consent

OSHCstudents – Before you receive your treatment you are entitled to ask your doctor or health care provider, your health insurer, and your hospital about any extra money you may have to pay out of your own pocket, commonly known as a ‘gap’ payment. Knowing how much your treatment will cost is called Informed Financial Consent.

Are you going to hospital as a private patient?

When being admitted to hospital as a private patient, you may have to contribute toward the cost of your treatment. In most cases, these out of pocket costs relate to medical fees charged by your treating doctors and health care providers. You may also incur out of pocket costs for hospital fees and prostheses.

In Australia, doctors and health care providers decide how much to charge for their services. It is important to ask for an estimate of fees before you receive the service or agree to a proposed treatment so you can make an informed decision as to whether to accept the costs and go ahead with your treatment.

Before you receive your treatment you are entitled to ask your doctor or health care provider, your health insurer, and your hospital about any extra money you may have to pay out of your own pocket, commonly known as a ‘gap’ payment. Knowing how much your treatment will cost is called Informed Financial Consent.

  • Ask your treating doctor or health care provider wherever practical how much their fee will be, and if you will need to pay a gap. This information should preferably be provided in writing.
    You may have more than one doctor or health care provider involved in your treatment, for example, a surgeon and an anaesthetist. Your surgeon should be able to advise who else will be treating you and how you can contact the other doctors or health care providers to seek fee information from them.
    You may have lower or no out of pocket costs if your treating doctors elect to use your health insurer’s gap scheme. You are entitled to ask your doctors if they will use your insurers’ gap scheme.
  • Ask your health insurer whether your policy will cover the procedure, and whether you will need to pay an excess, co-payment or any other charge associated with the treatment. Your health insurer may need you to obtain the Medicare item numbers your doctor or health care providers will be using to give you an accurate quote. If you are within waiting periods, you will also need to ask your doctors to fill in medical certificates for assessment by the fund to determine if benefits will be paid.
  • Ask the hospital whether they have an agreement with your private health insurer and whether you will have to pay any gaps or extra costs. Your hospital should perform a membership eligibility check with your health insurer before you are admitted to confirm your hospital cover and seek your informed financial consent to incurring any out of pocket costs associated with your admission. This information should preferably be provided in writing.

Informed Financial Consent in Emergency Situations

There will be circumstances, for example emergency admissions, where it will not be possible for your doctor or health care provider to obtain informed financial consent  before the service is provided. In these cases, information should be provided to you as soon as practicably possible after the service is provided. In circumstances where it’s not feasible to provide information directly to you before or after treatment, your doctors or health care provider may provide the information to a representative acting in your interests.

For more information on out of pocket costs and what you can do, click here

What can I do if my bill is much higher than I expected?

In the first instance, we suggest you contact your doctor’s or health care provider’s office to check  whether you agreed to these charges before treatment, and discuss the reasons for the various charges.

Making a Complaint

If you are unable to negotiate a suitable outcome with your doctor and the matter involves a private health insurance arrangement, the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman may be able to assist.

They may contact your insurer, doctor, health care provider or the hospital on your behalf to try to resolve the matter. If we are unable to assist, we may be able to refer you to someone who can, such as the health complaints agency in your State or Territory.

You can contact the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman on 1300 362 072 or via this website  for assistance.

If you are international students, foreigners arriving to Australia, or Australian citizens traveling abroad looking for OSHC, OVHC, travel insurance, please contact OSHCstudents Team at email: info@oshcstudents.com and our partners for further information and assistance.

OSHCstudents (source: Ombudsman)

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Baek Ah Yeon

I trust Allianz Care since it is one of the largest insurance companies in Australia, with the medical centres where I only have to pay for what is left from insurance support. (no need to claim later). Besides, those centres are located at the centre of the city, close to schools. Very convenient, right? Credits to Allianz Care for providing reliable medical centres for health check and treatments.

Baek Ah Yeon | University of Queensland

Ariella Pei

I’ve been living with homestay family for 2 years. I’m now 19, I can move out but I don’t want to leave my host, who has become my family. It feels like I’ve met my second family. Thanks OSHCstudents for sending me to this homestay!

Ariella Pei | University of Canberra

Chatchawat Paton

I realised how important insurance was when I started living in Australia. There I switched to using Allianz Care instead of the previous service. Allianz Care is extraordinarily good in its consulting service and customer care. I’ve learned a lot about Australian health care, also I was consulted with mental issues and how to live a healthy lifestyle. I am very happy now.

Chatchawat Paton | Torrent University

Phuong Anh

Having lived in Australia for 2 years, I’ve been reliant on AHM OSHC to pay for my health care, which supports me for other expenses. Last year, I sent my claim requests for several times and always received the claims within two days. Everything is easy, fast and simple.

Phuong Anh | Victoria University

Xiaoyu Cheng

Thanks to Allianz Care, every time I claimed my medical receipts it processed much more quickly and easily than I expected. I was initially a bit concerned since Allianz Care is more expensive than other insurance companies, but now I can ensure that it is totally worth the money.

Xiaoyu Cheng | Monash University

Emma

My homestay was very comfortable and convenient. My host was really kind. He showed me where to shop, which buses to catch, where the nearest train station is, to get off at which station so that I wouldn’t be taken to another suburb. Travelling was easy since the place was close to public transports. It only took 30 minutes to get to my college, actually I could go anywhere easily!

Emma | Macquarie University

Jing Zhang

When told that I was going to live with an Italian family, I was pretty nervous and doubted whether or not they could speak English well as the local people? Yet it was no longer a problem when I saw them. They knew the problems of people who first came to Australia and always tried to help me. I learned so many things about both Australian and Italian culture and enjoyed tasty Italian meals every time. Awesome!

Jing Zhang | Griffith University

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