Official sources

Everything we publish traces back to one of these. If you only read one thing before choosing a policy, make it the first link.

Government

Department of Health — Overseas Student Health Cover The OSHC Deed, the current list of approved insurers, and the minimum benefits every approved policy must provide. This is the source for the statutory floor described throughout this site.

Department of Home Affairs — Student visa (subclass 500) Visa condition 8501 and what “adequate health insurance for the whole period of stay” means in practice.

privatehealth.gov.au The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman’s own comparison site, covering Australian private health insurance including OSHC. Government-run and commission-free — worth cross-checking us against.

Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Online The schedule fee your benefits are calculated against. When a policy says “100% of the MBS fee” for a GP visit, this is the fee it means — which is why a doctor charging above the schedule fee still leaves you a gap.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Which medicines are subsidised, and the co-payment structure your prescription benefit sits on top of.

Complaints and disputes

Private Health Insurance Ombudsman Free, independent complaint handling if an insurer rejects a claim you believe should be covered, or if you cannot resolve a dispute directly.

The insurers

Each provider’s own product page is linked from its profile on this site and from the quote page. Those are the authoritative source for current premiums and for the PDS.

A note on other comparison sites

Many OSHC comparison and “quote” sites are paid a commission by the insurer you end up buying from, which is legal and common but does affect what gets recommended. It is usually disclosed somewhere in the footer or terms. It is worth looking for that disclosure on any site advising you — including this one, where you will find it in how we compare.