To go to Australia and to study in the best of Australian universities are dreams of many students today. Hours of academic study, research, career development, tuition classes culminate in the development path of a student’s life. The student dreams of a particular college and spends hours after minutes, days after nights to get a green signal to their dream destination.
Arrangement of academic documents, certificates, language – proof papers are carefully done and now is the time to leave for Aussieland!
Off they go! But hey – wait! I hate to tell you this, but as per the governmental policies of Australia, their plans may just be hindered! As per the Subclass 500 Student Visa, students and their family members are required to have adequate health insurance for the whole of their stay in Australia. Therefore, an OSHC Insurance in Australia is applicable to both the student and their families.
But to whom is it applicable? Are there any advantages? Under the reciprocal healthcare agreement (RHA), Australia has agreements with some countries. Though there exist several terms and conditions to these, these participating countries enjoy the benefits of Medicare – The Australian Public Health system. Under the RHA, Australia has agreements with countries like Belgium, Finland, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK.
To students having citizenships from other countries, an Overseas Students Health Cover (OSHC) becomes compulsory. It is a known fact that Australia is popular with its healthcare systems and services, and the emphasis it lays upon them, but outsiders tend to overlook the costs involved. A private bed and basic medical facilities in an Australian hospital could cost a person up to $1000 a day.
People often tend to overlook the Overseas Student Health Insurance and tend to pay a heavy price at a later stage for the same. This is indeed a phenomenon which can be avoided.
Let’s now understand some common mistakes people make while buying their Overseas Health Insurance
GOING CHEAP ON THE PRICE TAG
As human tendency is, buying the cheapest available thing comes naturally to us. There is always a consideration of the monetary factor, and most often than not, the lowest priced goods are picked. Now notice the word I used, ‘goods’. However, this is unlike selecting the goods in the normal market, for the cheapest insurance would really, not be a good idea. For e.g. What should be an ‘ideal plan’ is something you would tend to overlook, given a normal routine, but it could be a pocket – saver in a troublesome situation.
LACK OF FUTURE PLANNING
Touching upon what I mentioned in the point above, the health insurance plan needs to be comprehensive and needs to cover more than basic potential problems you may think of. I would even state that buying a cheap plan, for the mere sake of it, is equivalent to not buying a plan at all. Some plans, at higher points even give you access some facilities, but not limited to advance payments for immediate expenses, death and accident coverage, visiting any General Practitioner (GP) in the whole of Australia etc.
IGNORING THE ‘LOOK PERIOD’
Almost every insurance company has a 15 – day ‘look period’ during which, the insurance buyer can read, understand and clarify details about the policies and the terms mentioned. If the buyer is dissatisfied, he/she can ask for the plan to be scrapped. Also, the insurance provider tends to initialize the cancellation and even offers a refund. If this sounds logical to you, or even easy for that matter, not many of us would like to sit, read and go through the details of the policies mentioned. Overlooking the policies could even cause hassles in the future.
RENEWAL DELAY
Somewhere on the lines of the above – mentioned point, and with the title of this one; one can picture the essential human factor – laziness. Australian immigration laws state that without the possession of an OSHC Cover, the students are not eligible to stay in Australia. A failure to renew the policy would indicate a breach of the health insurance condition, and could even lead to a red – signal for your stay in Australia.
A proper OSHC Cover could help one prevent this burden of costs falling upon themselves, and still avail the best of medical facilities in Australia. With facilities like skipping appointment processes, getting in – hospital and out – hospital facilities, ambulance services, prescription medicines and availing prosthetic devices, buying the proper policy which suits your needs becomes as important as selecting the right calibre bullet for a weapon in a shooting competition. GetMyPolicy.online is a leading and trusted place in finding your best policy. You get to view and compare different policies, and in some cases, you could even tailor your cover and pay only for what you actually need.
It is always better to be safe than sorry
Author Bio:
I am Krina Patel, first, a proud mother of two and then, a project manager. I’m passionate in the heart about project management and learning; and use my experience and skills in helping others. My belief is simple. Just like a mother assures her child, I love assuring people in form of insurances for their pleasant stay in Australia.
