Department of Health approved
Bupa OSHC
Trusted worldwide health insurance for international students
Bupa OSHC is one of the five insurers currently selling Overseas Student Health Cover in Australia, so it meets the same statutory minimum as every other current OSHC policy: public hospital treatment at 100% of the MBS fee, out-of-hospital medical benefits at a minimum of 85% of the MBS fee, PBS prescription benefits, emergency ambulance, and waiting periods capped by the OSHC Deed. What varies is everything above that floor — it does sell an optional extras add-on, and its gap arrangements and support channels are described below, as published by the insurer itself.
What the policy covers
- Public hospital
- 100% of charges raised by the public hospital for shared-ward, intensive care, same-day, post-operative, emergency and outpatient department services; private hospital at agreed rates with participating hospitals
- Out-of-hospital medical
- GP consultations (100% MBS) · Specialist consultations (85-100% MBS) · Pathology and radiology (85-100% MBS)
- Prescriptions (PBS)
- Up to $50 per prescription item, annual max $300 (single) / $600 (family)
- Ambulance
- 100% emergency ambulance cover
- Mental health
- Inpatient psychiatric services covered; Bupa Blua Health app includes virtual mental health support
- Extras add-on
- Optional Extras OSHC add-on for dental, optical, and physiotherapy
- Gap arrangements
- Gap-free at Bupa Members First network providers for standard GP consultations
Waiting periods
The OSHC Deed caps these. No approved insurer may impose longer than 12 months for a pre-existing condition or pregnancy, or 2 months for psychiatric care.
- General services
- No waiting period for most services
- Pre-existing conditions
- 12 months
- Pregnancy
- 12 months
- Psychiatric
- 2 months
What the insurer highlights
- Bupa Blua Health app with 24/7 virtual GP consultations
- 'Find a Provider' direct billing locator
- Optional Extras OSHC (dental, optical, physio)
- Bupa Plus member discounts at partner retailers
- Global presence — easy transition from home country Bupa
- On-campus OSHC representatives at many universities
What it costs
We don't publish premiums, on purpose.
OSHC premiums are reviewed annually and depend on your exact cover dates, who is on the policy, and whether your campus has an arrangement with the insurer. Any figure we printed here would be stale before you read it, and a stale price is worse than no price — it makes two insurers look ranked when they are not. Get the live figure for your own dates from Bupa and from at least two others, then compare like for like.
Price this against the other 4 current insurers
Never buy on a single quote. Put Bupa next to the rest and compare like for like. We may receive a commission from insurers; commissions do not influence our comparisons.
Summarised from Bupa's public product pages and the Department of Health OSHC Deed, collected 1 Oct 2026. We may receive a commission from insurers; commissions do not influence our content or comparisons. Product terms change — the PDS on the insurer's own site is the only authoritative version.