A guide to Medicare for international students in Australia
Are international students eligible to use Medicare? Is Medicare free for international students? Your guide to using Medicare as an international student in Australia
Grace McCabe
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In Australia, Medicare is the public healthcare system that allows residents of the country to access physical and mental healthcare services. International students in Australia must apply for Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).
What is Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)?
OSHC is insurance that is designed specifically to help international students cover any medical expenses or hospital care that they might need when they are studying in Australia. It is important that every international student applies and starts their student health cover before they leave their home country.
Who needs OSHC?
Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship requires that everyone with a student visa and their dependants has OSHC for their entire time in Australia. However, there are some exceptions:
- students from Belgium, as they are covered by the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement
- students from Sweden, if they are covered under the National Board of Student Aid (Kammarkollegiet)
- students from Norway, as they are covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
How much does it cost to get OSHC as an international student?
Students have two options depending on what their university offers. OSHC is sometimes purchased by the university and then offered to students because each university prefers to work with specific providers. Or you can choose an OSHC provider and pay for it yourself. You can check with your university to see which option is available to you.
It is important to have continuous cover for your time in Australia. Students who may end up studying in two or more institutions must make sure that they have constant cover and don’t end up with periods of time where they do not have health insurance.
The final cost of OSHC depends on your medical history and the level of coverage that you choose. However, on average individuals pay about A$438 each year, couples pay about A$2,685 and family cover costs roughly A$4,026.
Can international students in Australia use Medicare?
Once you have paid for your OSHC plan, you are then eligible to use the Australian medical (Medicare) services, including:
- Medicare out-of-hospital services
- In-patient medical services
- Public hospital ward accommodation
- Private hospital accommodation with OSHC agreements
- Day surgery accommodation
- Selective prosthetic devices
- Pharmaceutical services
- Ambulance services
- Accident and emergency services
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How do I register for OSHC?
To get overseas student healthcare, you will need to apply via your university or a provider, the most popular of which are:
- Allianz Global Assistance (subcontracted by Lysaght Peoplecare)
- Australian Health Management
- BUPA Australia
- Medibank Private
- nib OSHC
Once you choose your provider, you will need to complete an application and provide information such as:
- residency status
- who the cover is for (ie, individual, couple, family)
- your date of birth
- the Australian state you will be studying in
- country of citizenship
- visa class
- duration of stay
- contact details
- medical information.
Once you provide all the required information, you will receive a quote and can finalise and pay for your cover.
Are dental care and eye care included with OSHC?
OSHC insurance plans don’t usually cover dental, optical or physiotherapy services. If you want to be covered for these services too, then you may have to take out additional private coverage.
