Does OSHC cover dental, optical and physio? What extras actually add

Students routinely budget for OSHC assuming it is comprehensive health cover, then discover in week one that a routine dental check, new glasses or a course of physiotherapy were never part of it. The reason is structural rather than accidental: OSHC is a Medicare-based product, and Medicare is a hospital and doctor system. It is not a general health plan.

This article sets out what the base product covers, where dental, optical and physio sit, and what an extras pathway actually changes.

The base product is Medicare, not general health cover

Schedule 1 of the OSHC Deed commencing 1 July 2025 defines the base coverage. It is a short list, and every item is Medicare-anchored:

Base coverage	Statutory rate
Ambulance services (when medically necessary)	100% of the ambulance charge
Pharmaceutical items	Amount above the PBS co-payment, capped at $50 per item
Out-of-hospital medical services	85% of the MBS fee
In-hospital medical services	100% of the MBS fee
Public hospital services	100% of the charges raised by the public hospital
Private hospital services	Per the insurer’s hospital contract, or the applicable minimum
Medical devices and human tissue products	Per the Prescribed List Rules

Every row attaches to a Medicare concept — MBS services, PBS medicines, public or private hospital admission. Routine dentistry, routine optical and ongoing physiotherapy do not appear in that list, because they are not Medicare services in the ordinary sense. That is why they are not covered by the statutory minimum, and it is not a gap in the product; it is what the product is.

Where each service actually sits

• Dental — Routine check-ups, cleans, fillings, crowns and orthodontics are not Medicare services and sit outside base OSHC. Dental treatment that is part of a public hospital admission is a different matter: that is a hospital service and is covered under the public hospital benefit. There is also a separate medical repatriation and additional-coverage framework in the Deed that some insurers use.
• Optical — Glasses and contact lenses are not Medicare services. There is no optical benefit in base OSHC. Prescription glasses are one of the first things students budget for out of pocket, so it is worth planning for.
• Physiotherapy — This is the one most often misread, and the misreading runs in both directions. Physiotherapy can be an MBS service, but not in the way most people assume. Medicare-subsidised physiotherapy is delivered by an eligible physiotherapist, not by the GP, and only under a plan: item 10960, for example, covers a physiotherapy service by an eligible physiotherapist where the patient has a chronic condition with complex care needs managed under a GP chronic condition management plan, and it is capped at 5 services in a calendar year. Those allied health items sit in Group M3 of the MBS, not in the general practice groups — and Group M3 is not one of the groups listed in row (a) of Schedule 4, so a 2-month maximum waiting period applies to them under row (h) rather than a nil one. Physiotherapy delivered as a standalone course of treatment outside any Medicare plan is not an MBS service at all and sits outside base OSHC entirely.

That point matters for budgeting in both directions. A student who assumes “physio is on Medicare, so it is covered with no wait” may hit a 2-month wait on an MBS-referral course. A student who assumes “physio is never covered” may be paying privately for subsidised treatment they were entitled to claim. The rule to hold onto is narrow and specific: physio is claimable only when it is an eligible service under an MBS plan, and in that case the waiting period is up to 2 months, not nil.

What “extras” means in the OSHC context

The Deed has a specific structure for going beyond the base product. Schedule 2 is titled “Services and Rates for Additional Coverage”, and its first row is:

“General treatment services as defined in section 121-10 of the Act — As determined by the Insurer.”

That is the hook. “General treatment” is the statutory term that covers the Medicare-exempt services — dental, optical, physio outside a Medicare plan, and the rest. An insurer may offer it as an optional add-on, and the Deed deliberately leaves the rate to the insurer (“as determined by the Insurer”). Schedule 2 also covers assisted reproductive services, treatment arranged in advance of a policy’s start date, and medical repatriation.

Two things follow from that structure:

1. The optional extras are real and regulated, not a grey area. They sit in a named schedule with a named rate basis.
2. We do not publish what each insurer charges or what each extras limit is, because those are set by the insurer and change. We are not going to invent a limit or quote a figure we cannot verify from the insurer’s own current material. Check the insurer’s own extras page or their current Policy Disclosure Statement.

What to actually do

1. Treat OSHC as what it is — visa-satisfying hospital and medical cover, not a general health plan. Budget dental and optical separately.
2. Check whether your physio is MBS-referrable through a GP chronic condition management plan. If it is, claim it — but allow for the up-to-2-month waiting period that applies to those allied health items.
3. If extras matter to you, price them separately against the insurer’s own current material, and check the waiting periods and limits in the Policy Disclosure Statement before you buy, not the sales page.
4. Do not assume an extras add-on is available on OSHC at all — the Deed permits it, but not every insurer offers it on this product.

The insurers currently selling OSHC are set out in who still sells student cover, and their own product pages — Allianz Care Australia, ahm, Bupa Australia, Medibank and nib — are where the extras terms are set out.

Key takeaways

• OSHC is a Medicare-based product. Base coverage attaches to MBS services, PBS medicines and hospital care.
• Routine dental and optical are not in base OSHC. They are not Medicare services.
• Physio under a GP chronic condition management plan is claimable at 85% of the MBS fee — but as an MBS Group M3 allied health item, which carries a 2-month maximum waiting period, not nil. Standalone private physio is not covered at all.
• Schedule 2 “Additional Coverage” is where extras live, with rates determined by the insurer.
• We do not publish extras limits or prices we cannot verify. Check the insurer’s current Policy Disclosure Statement.

Sources

• OSHC Deed commencing 1 July 2025 (PDF) — Schedule 1 (base coverage), Schedule 2 (additional coverage, including general treatment), Schedule 3 (exclusions) and Schedule 4 rows (a) and (h) (waiting periods).
• Private Health Insurance Ombudsman — Overseas Student Health Cover
• Medicare Benefits Schedule — item 10960, physiotherapy for chronic condition management — confirms the service is delivered by an eligible physiotherapist under a GP plan, sits in Category 8 Group M3, and is capped at 5 services per calendar year.
• Medicare Benefits Schedule Online — for the MBS items that base OSHC benefits are calculated against.

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.