Health insurance plan for international students in Australia
It is beneficial for the international students to opt for health insurance plan while studying in Australia. The appropriate health insurance plan for international students is Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) (The Department of Health, 2017).
This assignment help article emphasizes on providing information related to different aspects of OSHC such as benefits, concept and importance of this health insurance plan. OSHC OSHC is a health insurance plan that facilitates students to meet the cost of health care and medical which is required in Australia.
Along with this, it also helps in paying of limited benefits for ambulance and pharmaceutical services. The international students who are taking formal education and their dependents can undertake OSHC insurance plan. International students who are a holder of student visa and a person who is an applicant for a student visa are eligible to take OSHC insurance plan (The Department of Health, 2017). Along with this, some international students are not required to take OSHC insurance plan such as Belgian, Norwegian and Swedish students.
This is to the reason that there is an establishment of the agreement between the governments of these countries with Australia which does not mandate to acquire OSHC insurance plan by the students. The providers of OSHC include Medibank Private, BUPA Australia, Australian Health Management and Allianz Global Assistance (OSHC Australia, 2015). It is beneficial to purchase OSHC insurance plan by the international students in Australia as it bears costs related to visits to a doctor, ambulance cover, hospital treatment and limited pharmaceutical medicines. This also covers 100% fee for in-patient medical services like surgery, private hospital shared ward accommodation and prosthetic devices. Along with this, it also provides pharmaceutical benefits of up to $ 50 on each pharmaceutical product to a maximum of $ 300 a year for single membership (The University of Western Australia, n.d.). The international students have to bear the cost of pharmaceuticals such as cancer treatment if they have not selected the appropriate coverage. There is a need for the international students to compare different policies offered by different OSHC insurers before making a choice as per the requirements of the students. Students can make the payment for their treatment either by sending the bill directly to the insurer or can made the payment first and then claim it from the insurer on future date.
Along with this, the universities have a tie ups with different providers of the insurance plan which facilitates international students to choose from as they are unaware about the insurance plans available to them (OSHC Australia, 2015). These are known as preferred providers. There are several benefits of the preferred providers such as it results in claiming the expenses incurred on campus, and bulk billing on campus.
It is required by the international students to get OSHC cover because the medical services are very expensive for international students. Besides this, the ‘Medicare’ public health insurance system does not cover international students in Australia (The Department of Health, 2017).
It can be concluded that there is a need for international students to take OSHC insurance plan as medical services are expensive for international students. It is due to the reason that the public health insurance system of Australia does not cover international students. Besides this, it can also be summarized that it is beneficial for the international students to obtain OSHC plan as it covers majority of the medical expenses incurred by the students.