Treatments for drug and alcohol addiction are available on gold hospital policies. Alternatively, there is some support available via Medicare or via support services that the government offers.
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*Prices updated November 2024, in line with Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices reflect the cheapest available for a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
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Offering basic cover with limited features or higher pricing.
Key takeaways
Drug and alcohol treatment is available on gold hospital policies, under psychiatric care. However be aware that waiting periods of 2 months apply unless you're eligible for the mental health waiver.
The Australian government has a range of free support services available to help those with drug and alcohol addiction.
If you can't afford private health insurance, help is available via Medicare but this is limited.
Health insurance that covers drug and alcohol rehab
All prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney.
Finder Score - Hospital cover health insurance
Each month we analyse over 10,000 hospital insurance products and rate each one on price and features. What we end up with is a nice round number out of 10 that helps you compare hospital cover a bit faster.
Before we start scoring, we need to make sure we're comparing like-for-like. Just as it doesn't make sense to compare a bicycle with a Ferrari, it doesn't make sense to compare basic hospital policies to top-tier Gold policies. Each policy is given a price score and feature score. These are then combined to determine each policies's Finder Score.
How does private health insurance work for drug and alcohol treatments
There are many different types of treatment available for drug and alcohol addiction and a gold hospital policy can help in covering the costs of this. These kinds of treatments are typically covered under the following categories of your policy:
In hospital accommodation (sometimes referred to as in-patient care)
Psychiatric care
It's important to note that outpatient rehabilitation is not covered by private health insurance. Even the treatments that are covered may still carry out of pocket expenses as every insurer has benefit limits that will apply. Additionally, a gold policy will typically have waiting periods of 2 months before you can access these services, however, there are some exceptions if you're eligible for the mental health waiver. There's more information about that further down the page.
Drug and alcohol addiction treatments
Treatment
Description
How a gold health insurance policy can help
Withdrawal or detoxification
Ceasing drug and alcohol use, while minimising side-effects and the risk of harm.
If this is taking place in a hospital, private health insurance can cover your in-patient costs (hospital bed, medications used while in hospital).
Pharmacotherapy
Substitution of a harmful drug with medication to reduce cravings and the risk of overdose.
If this takes place in a hospital, you'd be covered under 'in-patient' treatments.
Counselling
Different approaches include talking through your problems and learning how to change the way you think and deal with difficult situations.
Health insurance doesn't cover this unless it's in a hospital with a psychiatrist
Rehabilitation programs
A long-term approach to achieving a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle, with no further medication provided once withdrawal is successfully completed.
If this rehab is done in a hospital, you may be covered under 'in-hospital treatments', 'rehabilitation' or 'psychiatry'.
Complementary therapies
Treatments such as relaxation therapies and natural remedies, which can be useful in managing withdrawal symptoms.
Health insurance won't cover this.
Support groups
Support programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
Health insurance doesn't cover this. They're typically free community groups.
Government support for drug and alcohol help
The Australian government has a range of support services available to help those who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. These services are also available to those who are affected by someone else's addiction.
Free support
If you or someone you care about is experiencing problems with drugs or alcohol, the below help lines are available for counseling, treatment, information and support.
National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline - 1800 250 015
Counselling Online - this allows you to chat online or email a counsellor 24/7
Family Drug Support - 1300 368 186
Kids Help Line - 1800 55 1800
Lifeline - 13 11 14
Hello Sunday Morning - this is an app designed to assist people with changing their relationship with alcohol.
How Medicare can cover drug and alcohol support
Mental health services are available via Medicare, but this can be limited. Every Australian resident is entitled to 10 sessions of mental health services (like a psychologist or a psychiatrist), which Medicare will cover a certain amount for. However, oftentimes, the practitioner will charge more than what Medicare covers so you're still left with some out of pocket expenses.
FAQs
Although it helps with the cost of some services, Medicare won't cover everything and you may still have some out-of-pocket expenses.
As well as your GP or psychiatrist, there are other avenues of help available to addicts. These include counselling services such as beyondblue, Lifeline and various other drug and alcohol online and telephone counselling services. There are also a number of useful websites where you can get further information and advice, including DrugInfo and the Australian Drug Information Network (ADIN).
If you aren't sure whether you need help for an addiction, the simple question to ask yourself is whether your alcohol or other drug use is affecting your health, family, relationships, work, school, financial or other life situation. If the answer is yes, then you should seek help.
Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio
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Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated March 2024, in line with Finder's
database of health insurance policies. Prices are based
on a single individual with less than $93,000 income and
living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
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