OSHCstudents – Healthcare can be expensive, especially if you need to fund hospital treatment. Find out what options you have to pay for your treatments.
In Australia, you have two choices should you need hospital treatment:
- Treated as a public patient in a public hospital
- Treated as a private patient (in a public or a private hospital)
It’s important to remember that in an emergency, you may not have time or be able to make this choice.
Choosing to be a public patient
Treatment as a public patient in a public hospital is paid for by Medicare through your taxes. This means you don’t pay anything more (outside of your tax). This applies to most Australian citizens, permanent residents and some people in the process of applying for permanent residency.
You won’t get to choose your doctor, and you may have to wait for treatment, unless you need it urgently; however, the public hospital system in Australia is generally considered an excellent choice for care.
If you have private health insurance, you can still choose to be treated as a public patient in a public hospital, or as a private patient in a public hospital.
Learn more about your hospital options.
Choosing to be a private patient
The benefits of private treatment are different depending on your hospital choice, but it typically gives you:
- Choice of doctor
- Reduced waiting time for elective or planned surgeries
- The ability to request a private room (where available) .
Options to pay for private treatment
If you choose to be a private patient, either in a private or public hospital, there are a few options for you to pay for your treatment.
You could either:
- Pay the cost yourself, This can be very expensive, depending on the treatment you need and the type of hospital care you choose.
- Use private health insurance to cover most of this cost. You may be left with some out of pocket costs, however it should be a lot less than paying for the entire treatment yourself.
You are international students or foreigners arrive to Australia, or Australian citizens traveling abroad who are 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: Bupa)
