How to choose a hospital

Hospital bills include the inpatient stuff that specialists' fees don't, like an operating theatre, nursing care, bed and food. Here we'll get into controlling your costs on different levels of Hospital cover. 

First, check your Hospital Product Sheet to see if the hospital treatment you’re planning is marked as 'covered' or 'restricted'. 

Ask your specialist if they can treat you at an agreement private hospital (a hospital we have a contract with). This includes most of the private hospitals around Australia.

If they can, and will, your insurance should cover most of the costs. That said, it's important to ask the hospital directly about any additional expenses you may have. They can be related to your care, like high-cost medicines or robotic surgery. Or non-medical stuff like TV, internet or phone use.

Ask your specialist which hospitals they work out of, and how much they charge private patients for your treatment. With restricted services, a public hospital is likely to be the most cost-efficient option. Here's how it works:

Public hospitals

If your specialist can treat you in a public hospital as a private patient, ask if the hospital charges the government set fee for that service. If they do, we pay your hospital bill (apart from your excess, if applicable).

If the hospital charges private patients more than government set fee, you'll have to pay the difference. This can vary a lot, so be clear on this before you agree to any treatment.

Private hospitals

If you're treated at a private hospital for a restricted service, you're likely to have significant out-of-pocket costs.

As with public hospitals, we pay up to the set government fee for your hospital accommodation. But a private hospital will probably charge more than that.

At a private hospital you'll also have to pay for any operating theatre, intensive care or neonatal intensive care costs, because they're not included in the accommodation cost (which they are at public hospitals).

Again, you need to understand those costs before you consent to treatment to avoid bill shock later.

If you have any questions about choosing a hospital for covered or restricted services, please give us a call on 1300 367 906.