Cheap and Discount OSHC

Medical cost in Australia sometimes can be expensive. If you do not own a health cover, you will be paying the full amount of your medical expense which can be very, very costly. That’s why a medical insurance is a safer choice for everyone who travels to Australia.

What is OSHC and who needs it?

OSHC stands for Overseas Student Health Cover. It is a compulsory insurance required by the Australian government for all student visa holder. It will help international students pay for the medical cost or hospital treatment that they may need while studying in Australia.

Every international student who undergoes formal study in Australia are required to hold OSHC. Without OSHC evidence, a student visa application will be denied.

There is exception for international students from Belgium, Norway, and Sweden.

All Belgian and Norwegian students do not need to purchase OSHC because of the agreement between Australian and the respective countries’ governments. Students from Swedish whose insurance is provided by CSN International (the Swedish National Board of Student Aid) or Kammarkollegiet (the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administration Agency) do not need to apply for OSHC as well.

This health cover can last up to 5 years or more depends on the duration on your study in Australia. It must cover the whole proposed of your student visa and not only the whole duration of your course. In general, immigration department will give you around 2 extra months after your course is finished. The reason is so that you have enough time to attend your graduation, collect your certificate, and prepare yourself to leave Australia or arrange a new visa.

If you decide to go back earlier or you got sponsored, and you have to cancel your study plan, you can ask for the refund of unused OSHC policy. To extend your student visa, you will need to renew the OSHC at the same time. You need OSHC too if you are staying in Australia under bridging visa.

What does it cover?

OSHC covers your expenses on medical cost let it be doctor visit, hospital treatment, and some medicine or prescriptions. Basic OSHC is quite limited, but is good enough to fulfill the government requirement. It does not cover dental, optical or other special care (for example physiotherapy).

You may opt for premium or platinum plan for extended coverage.

The basic policy only cover visit to General Practitioner and basic hospital treatment.  As for the platinum, it offers a more complete coverage including specialist consultation, major dental, orthodontia, psychology, etc.

How does OSHC work?

There are 2 options for getting the refund from medical insurance. Usually you can send the bill directly to the health insurance provider. Second option, some clinics might ask the OSHC holder to pay the medical bill in cash, and then get the refund from the medical insurance provider afterwards.

Hospital bills are normally sent directly to the insurer, and for pharmacy usually you will have to pay in cash first and get the reimbursement from you health insurer.

The practices from different insurance providers might vary, you should contact your provider for more details.

How can we help?

In Brightannica, we offer various cheaper and discounted OSHC plans. We are collaborating with several OSHC providers which allows us to provide more options and you can decide which one suits your needs. We also offer premium OSHC and platinum OSHC that covers dental, physiotherapy and other special treatments.

Current cheapest OSHC starts from $370/year. It includes 5% discount that will end on 31st of December 2013. You have to pay the insurance upfront and there is no installment option.

For more information don’t hesitate to contact us, and we can explain more if you have any question.