Our verdict: CBHS Health Fund comes with good member perks but to apply, you'll need to be a Commonwealth Bank Group staffer or family member – past or present.
CBHS Health Fund is a restricted not-for-profit fund that offers a small range of policies. Membership is restricted to current and employees of the Commonwealth Bank Group and their families.
Pros
A good private health option to consider if you're under 30 and are a current or former employee of the Commonwealth Bank Group.
There's a range of attractive member perks and benefits to take advantage of.
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
Email me my results (optional)
To get a copy of your results for later, add your email below
Basic Plus. Covers the basics and is designed to give you the choice of your own doctor when receiving treatment as a private patient in a shared room of a public hospital.
Limited (Bronze Plus). A mid-level policy covering essential services. Designed to cover most eventualities with some restricted benefits on services and treatments for things you are less likely to need.
Active (Silver Plus). A high-level of cover with exclusions for a small number of procedures to match your life stage.
Comprehensive (Gold). A high-level of cover with exclusions for a small number of procedures to match your life stage.
Extras coverage
Essential. Basic extras cover for those who lead a healthy lifestyle and are looking for just the essentials at a friendly price.
Intermediate. Mid-level extras cover providing benefits for popular services and treatments for everyday health management.
Top. Designed for those who are seeking security for a wide range of services, with attractive overall limits.
Combined coverage
FlexiSaver (Basic Plus). This entry-level hospital and extras policy offers cost-effective health insurance by excluding treatments most young and healthy people won't need. It covers preventative and surgical dental, joint reconstructions, accident cover, physiotherapy and optical.
KickStart (Basic Plus). Designed as an affordable, basic package for the young and healthy, this policy covers the same essentials as the FlexiSaver option, but with restricted benefits for services you're less likely to need. It also has a $70 daily co-payment option in hospital to keep premiums low.
StepUp (Bronze Plus). CBHS's mid-level cover option combines the benefits of Limited (Bronze Plus) Hospital and Intermediate Extras cover.
Prestige (Gold). This offers the highest level of cover available from CBHS and offers generous extras benefits including wellness benefits, access to chronic disease management programs and more.
Ambulance coverage
CBHS members who hold any level of Hospital cover are automatically covered for emergency ambulance transport. CBHS Ambulance Cover will reimburse you for the costs of emergency ambulance transportation including medical emergency treatment at the scene. You are only covered if the transport or treatment is provided by a State Government ambulance service or a private ambulance service recognised by CBHS. This means you won't need to purchase an additional ambulance-only health insurance policy.
Cover is for emergency transportation and treatment only, such as a heart attack or stroke, not for routine and ongoing medical conditions. Residents of Western Australia holding a Hospital or Package product can also claim a benefit for non-emergency ambulance transport services up to a maximum of $5,000 per person per year.
CBHS Health Fund complaints
We looked at the 2023 Ombudsman health insurance complaints to see how good CBHS health fund's customer service is. Here's how CBHS stacked up:
It had a better complaints ratio than a handful of insurers including Australian Unity and HIF.
It had the same complaints ratio and market share.
CBHS frequently asked questions
Yes, CBHS is a not-for-profit health fund.
No, not everyone can join CBHS, as it is a restricted fund. Membership is only open to current and former employees of the Commonwealth Bank Group.
As a CBHS member, you can get access to the following benefits:
Health management program. Receive advice and support to help you reach your lifestyle and wellbeing goals.
Best Doctors. This network gives members access to medical experts who can review your case.
The Choice Network. This network of providers offers no gap services to members.
Member discounts. CBHS members can enjoy discounted gym memberships, cheap eyewear and a range of other health discounts.
Health care aids. CBHS offers benefits on artificial aids, hearing aids and health care appliances.
Hospital in the home. This alternative to hospital treatments and rehab services allows you to stay at home, in some cases.
There are 4 ways you can lodge a claim with CBHS:
On the spot. If your health care service provider supports HICAPS or iSOFT facilities, simply swipe your CBHS Health Fund membership card on the spot to have the benefit amount deducted from your total fee.
Online. You can lodge your claim online by logging on to the CBHS Member Centre and uploading your receipt. Benefits for online claims are typically paid within 1-2 business days.
Through an app. You can lodge a claim by uploading a photo of your receipt using the CBHS Health Fund mobile app, which is available from the App Store and Google Play.
By filling out a claim form. You can download a claim form from the CBHS Health Fund website, complete it and return it to the fund along with your receipt or account. CBHS aims to pay benefits within 5 days of receiving your claim.
If you need to make a medical claim, a doctor who participates in an Access Gap Cover arrangement with the fund will bill CBHS directly. If your doctor doesn't participate in an Access Gap Cover agreement, you'll need to submit the claim to Medicare first before it is passed on to CBHS Health Fund.
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.
As Finder's insurance group publisher, Alex Holderness aims to make confusing topics easy to understand. She's been published in Money Mag, Yahoo Finance, Hospital Health, and is a contributing author for Google's Startup Grind. She has a keen passion for running and is currently studying for her General Insurance certification. See full bio
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
Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 648 Finder guides across topics including:
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You can also use our comparison table to see a side-by-side between different brands. Once you have chosen a particular insurer, you may then click on the “Go to site” button and you will be redirected to the insurer’s website where you can request a quotation, proceed with your application or get in touch with their representatives for further assistance.
Before applying, please ensure that you review the relevant Product Disclosure Statements/Terms and Conditions when comparing your options before making a decision on whether it is right for you. You can also contact the provider if you have specific questions.
Hope this helped. Feel free to reach out to us again if you need further assistance.
Cheers,
Gru
geoffJanuary 15, 2017
My m-in-law will be visiting from China for three months.(79 yrs) What is the cost of a basic hospital cover for this period?
Finder
RichardJanuary 16, 2017Finder
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for getting in touch. CBHS is a restricted fund, one that is only available to Commonwealth Bank employees. Your mother-in-law may need overseas visitors’ health cover (OVHC). To compare the policies from the funds in our panel, please head to our OVHC page.
All the best,
Richard
alfredAugust 3, 2016
my wife has recently died and was a commonwealth bank employee I (husband) have been determined as a sole survivor and have been awarded a 67% pension by the group SuperFund
I received a letter stating that my wife’s funeral costs would be reimbursed to me
No mention has been made of this and I was wondering if its the responsibility of the CBHS
alfred
Finder
RichardAugust 4, 2016Finder
Hi Alfred,
Thanks for getting in touch and I’m sorry for your loss. finder.com.au is a comparison service and has no affiliation with CBHS. You will need to contact CBHS directly about this, which you can do by calling 1300 654 123.
All the best,
Richard
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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
Email me my results (optional)
To get a copy of your results for later, add your email below
I’m want to compare top cover for psychiatric health in hospital
Hello Susie,
Thanks for reaching out to Finder.
Our partners for Health insurance with psychiatric coverage can give the cover you need. On that page, you will be able to read on the following:
Which Australian health funds offer cover?
How much of the cost does health insurance cover?
What should I be aware of when comparing policies?
Does Medicare cover hospital psychiatric care?
Compare health insurance for hospital psychiatric care
You can also use our comparison table to see a side-by-side between different brands. Once you have chosen a particular insurer, you may then click on the “Go to site” button and you will be redirected to the insurer’s website where you can request a quotation, proceed with your application or get in touch with their representatives for further assistance.
Before applying, please ensure that you review the relevant Product Disclosure Statements/Terms and Conditions when comparing your options before making a decision on whether it is right for you. You can also contact the provider if you have specific questions.
Hope this helped. Feel free to reach out to us again if you need further assistance.
Cheers,
Gru
My m-in-law will be visiting from China for three months.(79 yrs) What is the cost of a basic hospital cover for this period?
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for getting in touch. CBHS is a restricted fund, one that is only available to Commonwealth Bank employees. Your mother-in-law may need overseas visitors’ health cover (OVHC). To compare the policies from the funds in our panel, please head to our OVHC page.
All the best,
Richard
my wife has recently died and was a commonwealth bank employee I (husband) have been determined as a sole survivor and have been awarded a 67% pension by the group SuperFund
I received a letter stating that my wife’s funeral costs would be reimbursed to me
No mention has been made of this and I was wondering if its the responsibility of the CBHS
alfred
Hi Alfred,
Thanks for getting in touch and I’m sorry for your loss. finder.com.au is a comparison service and has no affiliation with CBHS. You will need to contact CBHS directly about this, which you can do by calling 1300 654 123.
All the best,
Richard