OSHCstudents-If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant when you are studying in Australia, you need to understand OSHC policies that work best for you.
Which benefits for pregnancy and maternity will be covered by OSHC?
- Antenatal care during pregnancy. You will meet the doctor (GP) or midwife and may be offered tests, scans, or check-ups to check for anything that may cause problems during pregnancy care.
- Maternity medical expenses in-hospital treatment, whether you have spontaneous delivery or cesarean birth.
- After-birth treatment, infant-caring services, and immunization expenses.
Generally, you are required to meet the 12-month waiting period for all pregnancy-related conditions to be covered.
When to upgrade your policy?
You’ll need to upgrade your policy within 60 days of your baby’s birth date. If you do not upgrade within 60 days of your baby’s birth, this may affect your coverage, serving waiting periods, and premium. Your upgraded policy start date can be adjusted once your child is born. Any adjustments to the premium can be addressed at this time.
How to upgrade OSHC Policy?
OSHC comprises three policies- Single, Dual, and Multi-family. If you fall pregnant in Australia, you need to upgrade your policy.
- If your policy covers the benefits for a single person, you need to upgrade to a dual or multi-family policy. Either of these options will mean an increase in your premium.
- If you are on a dual-family policy and have one spouse or recognized de-facto and more than one dependent child in your policy, you need to upgrade it to a multi-family policy. Both dual and multi-family policies will increase the amount of premium you pay for the policy.
- However, if you are already on a multi-family policy, you just need to add a baby to your policy and there will not be any changes in your premium.
Once your baby is born, contact your OSHC provider to add them to your policy. Alternatively, login into your member account on the website and add the dependent to your policy.
You must add your baby within 60 days of their birth date to avoid waiting periods and to make sure your baby is covered for any medical services they may need.
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.
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