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Health insurance gym membership

Save on exercise: get health insurance with gym membership rebates and discounts.

Who is this cover for?

Extras cover often pays benefits towards a gym membership – you'll usually find it under the diet and lifestyle benefit. Alternatively, some funds give you access to gym memberships at a discounted rate. We've listed who below.

Compare health insurance gym membership rebate options

The table below outlines some of the annual limits of gym benefits that are included with extras cover with some of our partners. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney.

Name and lozenges Finder Score Treatments Price
Simple Extras
Extras cover
Finder score
  • General dental
  • Major dental
  • Optical
  • Physiotherapy
  • Chiropractic
  • Psychology
  • Remedial massage
  • Hearing aids
$37.46
per month
View details
HCF MID EXTRAS
Extras cover
Finder score
  • General dental
  • Major dental
  • Optical
  • Physiotherapy
  • Chiropractic
  • Psychology
  • Remedial massage
  • Hearing aids
$46.50
per month
Go to SiteView details
Lifestyle Extras
Extras cover
Finder score
  • General dental
  • Major dental
  • Optical
  • Physiotherapy
  • Chiropractic
  • Psychology
  • Remedial massage
  • Hearing aids
$76.15
per month
Go to SiteView details
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Finder Score - Health Insurance Extras

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.

Read the full Finder Score methodology

Why compare health insurance with Finder?

  • We don't ask for your phone or email to see prices.

  • With 1 click, you can open your results to nearly every fund in Australia.

  • You pay the same price as going direct – we charge no fees.

What do you need to claim for gym memberships?

Health insurance gym benefits differ with each fund's extras policies. According to the Private Health Insurance Act, a benefit can only be paid if it is part of a fitness program to treat an existing medical condition.

How much cover you receive for these health-related activities depends on your insurer, the level of cover you have with them and the benefit limits that apply to your policy. In order to claim you typically require:

  • An extras health insurance policy that includes reimbursement for gym membership.
  • A referral from a GP or health professional.
  • Receipts from your gym membership or fitness classes.
Clare Lee's headshot

"I have extras cover with AHM and I regularly claim my gym membership as part of my annual allowance. This particular cover allows you to claim extra benefits as part of its health improvement scheme. This is great for me as I regularly suffer with back pain. I had my health benefit form filled in by my doctor (which lasts for 2 years) and now I can claim up to my yearly benefit and receive money back off my gym membership."

Clare Lee
Finder crew member

What health maintenance services can be covered?

Health maintenance programs contain a range of services covered by private health insurers which are designed to prevent illness and promote healthier living. Insurers reward participation in these programs, not so much out of the goodness of their hearts, but to reduce the likelihood of their members making claims – but either way, everybody wins.

Typical health maintenance services include:

How much can you claim back?

This depends on the level of cover offered by your policy. Maximum benefit limits are typically only a few hundred dollars a year, so you would need to weigh up the benefits versus costs to decide if it is the right sort of cover for you.

If you suffer from a chronic medical condition where such health services would be of benefit to you, it may be well worth your while to be covered. Or if they are services that you use regularly anyway, paying a few hundred dollars less for them every year would obviously make sense.

What is excluded from cover?

Exclusions or circumstances where a benefit would not be paid on this type of cover might include:

  • If the gym or fitness centre is not approved by your insurer (some insurers require that you only attend facilities they have an agreement with).
  • If the service was not medically necessary (many insurers require you to have a referral from a healthcare professional such as a GP, physiotherapist, chiropractor or specialist).
  • If you hire a personal trainer or join a 24-hour fitness centre (some insurers don’t recognise these services).

FAQs

Richard Laycock's headshot
Editor

Richard Laycock is Finder’s insights editor after spending the last five years writing and editing articles about insurance. His musings can be found across the web including on MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University and The Missouri School of Journalism and has a Tier 1 Certification in General Advice for Life Insurance. See full bio

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