Important information

Overseas Visitors and Overseas Workers Health Cover Important Information

This website contains information designed to encourage people to join Medibank Private and to assist current members in deciding whether to change their level of cover. The following is a summary of important information relating to membership of Medibank’s Overseas Visitors Health Covers and Overseas Workers Health Covers and rules relating to the payment of benefits. Please make sure you are familiar with the following information.

 
Further information is contained in the relevant Member Guide, which will be sent to you with your membership card after joining or changing cover. The Member Guide may also be obtained at any Medibank store, by phoning 134 190 (if calling in Australia), +61 3 8622 5780 (if calling outside Australia), or via this website. In addition, the Fund Rules of Medibank Private are available to view at any Medibank store or online.

Cooling-off period

If you join but then decide you’d like to either cancel your membership or move to another cover, we have what is known as a ‘cooling-off’ period. This also applies if you’re already a member and have recently changed your cover. As long as you tell us within 30 days of joining or changing your cover, there’s no problem. We can either transfer you to a more suitable cover or refund your premium in full as long as no claims have been made against your policy. If you close your membership after the cooling-off period we will refund any unused premium less an administration fee.

Suitability for Overseas Visitors Health Cover

Medibank’s Overseas Visitors Health Covers are designed for international visitors and temporary residents in Australia who are not eligible for full Medicare entitlements. Medibank’s Overseas Visitors Health Covers are generally not suitable for visas that are subject to visa condition 8501 and require you to hold ‘adequate health cover’. Please contact us on 134 190 to find out whether we have a more suitable cover option for you. Please contact the Department of Home Affairs if you are unsure whether visa condition 8501 applies to you. If, at any time, you gain access to full Medicare entitlements or your visa status changes, (e.g. you are granted permanent residency), membership of an Overseas Visitors Health Cover may no longer be suitable. In these instances, you should notify Medibank of the change in your circumstances so that we can help you review your cover.

Eligibility for Overseas Workers Health Cover

Medibank’s Overseas Workers Health Covers are only available to people who are in Australia on certain visas approved by Medibank. This includes the following visa subclasses:

400 – Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist);

403 – Temporary Work (International Relations);

407 – Training;

408 – Temporary Activity;

417 – Working Holiday;

462 – Work and Holiday;

482 – Temporary Skill Shortage; and

485 – Temporary Graduate.

We may require proof of eligibility such as a copy of your visa. If you are on an eligible visa, but if your visa subclass is not mentioned here, you can call us on 134 190, (+61 3 8622 57890 if calling from outside Australia) or visit a Medibank store to find out if you are eligible for a Overseas Workers
Health Cover. 

Medibank can transfer anyone who is not eligible for our Overseas Workers Health Covers to an alternative cover. We can backdate this change and require you to pay any additional premiums and/or repay any higher benefits you received on your Overseas WorkersHealth Cover. This includes if, at any time, you gain access to full Medicare entitlements. So it’s important that you let us know if your visa status changes so that we can help you review your cover.

Disclaimer

1. Medibank Private encourages providers to offer high-quality products and services at competitive prices to its members.
2. Where Medibank Private recognises a provider, advertises on behalf of a provider, or appears by reference of logo or otherwise in an advertisement of any provider, to the fullest extent allowed by the law, such an advertisement or reference should not be construed as: a) an endorsement; b) an acknowledgment or representation as to fitness for purpose; or c) a recommendation or warranty of, for, or in relation to, the product and/or service of that provider. Accordingly, Medibank Private neither takes nor assumes any responsibility for the product and/or service provided.
3. Members should make and rely on their own enquiries and seek any assurance or warranties directly from the provider of the services or products.

Declaration and acknowledgment

By lodging your application for membership, you are taken to be making the following declarations and acknowledgements:

1. I am aware that Medibank Private has a Privacy Policy which is available for me to inspect and I consent to the use and disclosure of my personal information in accordance with this policy.
2. I have authority to provide the personal information of my partner or dependants referred to on this application and will inform them of the existence of the Medibank Private Privacy Policy.
3. I will make, or authorise the making of, all claims under this policy and will ensure that each claim includes the sensitive information of a partner or dependant aged 16 years and over only with their consent.
4. I authorise any medical practitioner, hospital, or other health service or health provider to supply from time to time to Medibank Private full and complete details of all or any information Medibank Private considers necessary to the assessment of any claim concerning me, my partner, or my dependants and acknowledge that I have their consent to give this authority on his or her behalf.
5. I authorise my previous Australian health fund (if any) to release to Medibank Private all personal information concerning me, my partner, and my dependants required to confirm membership entitlements and declare that I have the consent to authorise the release of personal information relating to my partner and all dependants aged 16 years and over.
6. I am aware of and understand the relevant conditions (including any excluded services) and waiting periods (including the waiting periods for obstetrics-related services and pre-existing conditions.
7. I am responsible for this membership and I will communicate, to all current and future persons covered by it, the information contained in the appropriate Member Guide (being a selective summary of the Fund Rules), the existence of the Fund Rules and the fact that those rules apply to every member of Medibank Private. A copy of the Fund Rules is available for viewing at Medibank stores or at medibank.com.au
8. I understand that my partner will automatically be able to manage most aspects of this membership and Medibank Private may disclose registered membership details to him/her. I will refer to the Member Guide for full details and will advise Medibank if I do not want my partner to have these rights.

I declare that all details provided are true and correct and I agree to be bound by the Fund Rules and policies of Medibank Private, as varied from time to time.