Get your head right - extras health insurance policies can cover psychology sessions and counselling from around $7 a week.
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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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Key takeaways
Counselling and psychology is covered by some extras insurance policies.
Medicare can also cover appointments with a psychologist with a GP referral.
Most extras policies have relatively short waiting periods for psychology
What is psychology?
As far as health care is concerned, psychology is professional counselling or therapy for a range of mental issues, conducted by a trained clinical psychologist. These issues can be anything from a diagnosed mental illness like bipolar disorder to short-term issues like work-related stress.
What can a phychologist help with?
The main job of a psychologist is to help people cope with whatever is troubling them mentally, from everyday concerns to more complex mental illnesses. They do this by using a range of therapies that can be collectively called "psychotherapy". Through psychotherapy, patients can learn any number of new skills including better ways to think, act, communicate and manage their emotions.
A psychologist might be able to help with:
Anxiety
Depression
Schizophrenia
Bipolar
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Eating disorders
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Everyday stress
Relationship issues and marriage counselling
Phobias
Addictions
Grief
The mental aspect of pain management
Post-natal depression
Note that psychologists don't prescribe medication. You would need a psychiatrist for that. That said, your GP could prescribe some medications related to your condition if required.
Is psychology covered by Medicare?
Yes, Medicare can cover some psychological services, but you'll need a GP referral. The Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative lets people claim up to 10 psychology sessions per year through Medicare.
This can be a good solution if you’re looking for ongoing support. You'll need to see your GP first and have them give you a mental health support plans an referral to a specialist. At that point, find a psychologist that has capacity (which can be a challenge) and make an appointment.
Out of pocket costs for psychology under Medicare
Medicare will rebate you $84.80 per 50+ minute session with a general psychologist, and $124.50 for a session with a clinical psychologist as long as you are on a mental health treatment plan. If the actual cost for a session is greater than this, you’ll have to pay the difference. When you are booking your appointment, remember to ask for the fees up front so you know how much out-of-pocket expense to expect.
How does private health insurance cover psychology?
Most insurers offer psychology cover with their extras policies. The main benefit of using private health for your mental health care is the speed of care. You don't need to see a GP first, you don't need a referral and you don't need a mental health treatment plan.
Finder survey: What percentage of Australians say mental health or psychology extras are important to them?
Response
Female
Male
Mental health or psychology
6.51%
3.33%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023
What should you be aware of when using private psychology cover?
When comparing health insurance policies you'll want one that offers the best value, and there's more to value than just price. Keep an eye out for how insurers treat the following:
Your benefit limits. This is the maximum amount you can claim each year for services like psychology and dental. Sometimes these services will have separate limits (for example, $300 for psych and $300 for dental), but other times they'll have combined limits (using the same example, $600 to use wherever you'd like). A policy with combined limits is often the better choice.
In-network versus out-of-network providers. Your extras cover will most likely pay for a percentage of each therapy session, while you pay the rest. Some insurers will pay a higher percentage if you use a psychologist in their network. The savings may or may not be worth it depending on the size of their network.
Waiting periods. If this is a new policy, you'll probably have to wait before you can claim on psychology treatments. If you look hard enough, you may be able to find a special offer that will waive your waiting periods for some treatments including psychology.
"I'd argue that your mental health is just as important as your physical health, and it surprised me to find out that not all health insurance funds cover psychotherapy. I took out a policy with AHM as it was one of the few providers that covered psychotherapy with no waiting periods, so I could get the help I needed sooner rather than later."
Below are a few funds from Finder partners that cover psychology in extras. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney. To see more policies, use the quiz at the top of this page.
Each month we analyse over 10,000 extras 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 extras cover a bit faster.
We want to compare apples to apples, not apples to apple pie. It doesn't make sense to compare a top extras policy with coverage for hearing aids and braces against a policy designed only for dental. So we've separated all the extras policies on the market into pools and categories. Once in their pools and categories, each product gets a price score and a features score, which are then combined to give the Final Score.
There are benefits and drawbacks to both systems, but the beauty is that you can take full advantage of both. You won't be refused Medicare cover if you've already used your private cover or vice versa. So in most cases, having private cover is a no-brainer.
Here are some reasons why private cover makes sense:
If you only need a couple of sessions. If you only need a few sessions for a minor issue like work-related stress, Medicare will work but you'll need to see your GP first. Private health insurance allows you to be more discreet and go directly to the therapist without needing your GP's referral or a treatment plan.
If you know you need ongoing therapy. Medicare limits you to 10 sessions per year, or less than one a month. Depending on your policy, private insurance might cover anywhere from 2-5 sessions. But the good news is, you can use them both one after the other in any order. Now you can get the ongoing treatment you need while saving a big chunk of change in the process.
If you need therapy, but don't know how much you need. In this case, you'd go with the Medicare option while keeping your private cover in your back pocket. If you need more than 10 sessions, then whip out your private cover. If you don't need the extra sessions, your private cover can still save you tons on other essential extras like your twice-a-year dental cleanings.
If you are an overseas visitor, such as a student or worker, there are ways to get cover for psychology, but you may have to jump through a few hoops:
Through a reciprocal health care agreement. If you are from a country that has an agreement in place to provide healthcare to each others’ citizens, you can get up to 10 psychology sessions per year. This requires a visit to your GP who will want to see evidence that you need counselling for an ongoing mental health issue that has caused problems in your life.
By purchasing private health cover. The only private cover available to long-stay visitors is either Overseas Visitors Health Cover for workers (OVHC) or Overseas Student Health Cover for students (OSHC). Top level policies will offer cover for treatments known as “extras” like dental, physio and acupuncture. It’s not common for them to offer psychology, but you may find it in one of these top level policies.
You'll usually have a few options. Depending on who you are insured with, you may be able to claim by:
Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). 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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