The OSHC insurers compared in 2026: who still sells student cover and who does not
A verified list of the insurers currently selling OSHC in Australia, and why the widely repeated six-insurer list is now out of date.
Ask ten people how many insurers sell Overseas Student Health Cover in Australia and you will get several different answers. The most common one — six — is out of date. This article sets out who is actually selling OSHC as at October 2026, based on each insurer’s own current product page rather than on a recycled list.
Who currently sells OSHC
Five insurers currently have a live OSHC product you can obtain as a new student:
| Insurer | Sells new OSHC? | Where to verify it yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Allianz Care Australia | Yes | allianzcare.com.au |
| Medibank | Yes | medibank.com.au |
| ahm | Yes | ahmoshc.com.au |
| Bupa Australia | Yes | bupa.com.au |
| nib | Yes | nib.com.au |
The rule we apply is simple: an insurer is on this list only if it has a current OSHC product page you can actually open. That is the same test the Department of Health applies when it publishes its OSHC resources, and it is the only test that does not depend on someone remembering to update a list.
The insurer that has stepped back
CBHS International Health no longer offers Overseas Student Health Cover to new members. The company states on its own site that it has closed its OSHC product, with cover for existing members continuing as normal. You can see this directly on the CBHS International Health website.
This matters for two groups of people:
- Prospective students shopping around. If a comparison list tells you there are six insurers and one of them is CBHS, that list is stale and you are one option poorer than you think.
- Existing CBHS members. If you already hold a CBHS OSHC policy, your cover is unaffected. You keep it for the period you bought. You just cannot buy a new OSHC policy from them today.
We keep a reference page for CBHS so that anyone still searching for their existing cover finds accurate information rather than a dead end.
We are not insurers. We publish product facts drawn from public sources so you can shortlist, and for Allianz Care, Medibank, Bupa and ahm you can get a quote and buy through our checkout. We may receive a commission from insurers; commissions do not influence our comparisons.
Why the “six insurers” list keeps reappearing
You will still encounter the six-insurer figure in several places, including parts of the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman’s OSHC page and the Department of Health’s OSHC resources. That content has not always kept pace with the market.
This is not a reason to distrust those sources — the Ombudsman and the Department of Health are the authoritative references for the rules. It is only the insurer count that lags. So use them for what they are current on, and verify the insurer list against each insurer’s own product page, exactly as we do here.
What is identical across all of them
Before you compare, know what is not worth comparing. Every approved insurer signs the same OSHC Deed commencing 1 July 2025, so the statutory minimum is the same floor everywhere:
- Public hospital services at 100% of the charges raised by the public hospital
- Out-of-hospital medical services at a minimum of 85% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule fee
- PBS prescription benefits
- Emergency ambulance cover
- Capped waiting periods
Because of that, “cover levels” on a product summary sheet mostly produce the same result. The genuine differences are in private hospital agreements, provider networks, extras, and how the policy is priced for your dates. Our OSHC comparison page focuses on those.
Compare, then buy
Once you have a shortlist of the insurers that are actually selling cover, you can price your own policy with live quotes on our quote page. The insurers quote you directly for your dates and category — we do not publish indicative premium ranges, because insurer rates change and a stale range would mislead you.
Key takeaways
- Five insurers currently sell new OSHC in Australia: Allianz Care Australia, Medibank, ahm, Bupa Australia and nib.
- CBHS no longer offers OSHC to new members. Existing member cover continues normally.
- The “six insurers” figure is out of date. Verify any list against each insurer’s own current product page.
- The statutory minimum is identical at every approved insurer, so cover content is not where they differ.
- We do not publish premium ranges. Live quotes from the insurers themselves are the accurate figure.
Sources
- Department of Health and Aged Care — OSHC resources and Deed collection
- OSHC Deed commencing 1 July 2025 (PDF)
- Private Health Insurance Ombudsman — Overseas Student Health Cover
- Insurer product pages: Allianz Care Australia, Medibank, ahm, Bupa Australia, nib, CBHS International Health
Information is current as at 1 October 2026. This is general information, not personal advice, and it does not consider your personal circumstances. CompareOSHC is not an insurer or underwriter. We may receive a commission from insurers; commissions do not influence our comparisons.