Emergency Services Health insurance is good for emergency service volunteers and workers who want top level cover. The fund is above average in most key metrics, so it's not too shabby.
Emergency Services Health insurance provides top level cover to emergency services employees and volunteers, along with their close relatives. It's a restrcited membership fund, but eligibility is far wider than just paramedics and firies, with nurses, doctors, SES, Water rescuers and more able to join.
Along with its parent organisation, Police Health, the fund is above average for all of the key indicators tracked by the private health insurance ombudsman, including member retention, percentages of premiums returned as benefits, complaints and more. That doesn't make it perfect, but it is a green flag to consider.
Pros
A great option for emergency services staff and volunteers, plus their families.
Health policies are refreshingly straightforward and easy to understand.
Some of Emergency Services Health insurance's policies will half your excess for same-day stays in a private hospital – other top policies have no excess for same-day stays.
Cons
Beware if you're after a lower level of cover – Emergency Services Health insurance only offers 2 types of gold cover and an extras package.
It's only available to emergency services employees, volunteers and their family.
Emergency Services Health policies
Emergency Services Health only offer 3 different policy options.
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
Gold Hospital. This hospital-only option provides cover for treatment in any private or public hospital or day surgery around Australia for all 38 treatments required to make it a gold policy. Cover includes:
Pregnancy and birth
Weight loss surgery
Assisted reproductive services
Dialysis for chronic kidney failure
Extras coverage
Rolling Extras. The policy covers 80% of the cost of most extras services and you have the freedom to visit the recognised health provider of your choice. Plus, Emergency Services Health is one of the only insurance groups in Australia that offers rollover benefits. Cover includes:
Gold Combined. This comprehensive policy brings together all the benefits of the Gold Hospital and Rolling Extras policies. In addition, this policy also provides benefits towards the cost of corrective laser eye surgery.
Ambulance coverage
All Emergency Services Health policies include ambulance cover for anywhere in Australia. There is a 2-month waiting period before you're covered, but there is no annual limit. It can cover you for:
Emergency transport
Clinically required non-emergency transport
Treatment not requiring transport
Emergency Services Health frequently asked questions
No, not everyone can join Emergency Services Health. It's a restricted fund, and you must be part of the Australian emergency services community to join.
Emergency Services Health offers members the following benefits:
Gap Cover. Access Gap Cover eliminates or reduces the out-of-pocket expenses that are commonly part of your hospital stay when you go through private health insurance. Emergency Services Health has arrangements with a majority of doctors around Australia, so you will be fully covered for in-hospital medical treatment.
Contracted Hospitals. Emergency Services Health has agreements with most private hospitals to make sure you are charged an agreed schedule of fees.
Nourish Baby. If you're trying for or expecting a baby, you can get access to the Nourish Learning Hub. It gives you access to things like Fertility & Pregnancy Health, Labour & Birth Preparation and Breastfeeding & Bottle Feeding.
Rollover Benefit. This lets you carry over any used Annual Maximum Benefit that you haven't claimed during the previous calendar year, giving you access to higher annual limits.
Tele-Consult Benefit. This gives you access to treatment from the comfort of home including Physiotherapy, Psychology, Counselling, Occupational Therapy, Dietary and Speech Therapy.
Lodging claims differs based on the service and the provider.
Hospital: Hospital claims usually go directly to Emergency Services Health from the hospital and a claim payment is sent back to the hospital, so you don't have to worry about making a claim.
On the spot: The majority of extras claims can be processed on the spot if the health provider has HICAPS or iSOFT HealthPoint claiming facilities. Most eligible claims are processed this way, and you just pay any out-of-pocket gap then and there.
Other extras services claims: For claims that can't be made on the spot, you can fill out a claim form and send it with the relevant accounts and receipts via 1 of 4 ways:
Email (myclaim@eshealth.com.au) with your membership number in the subject line
Mail to Emergency Services Health, Reply Paid 84966, Halifax St, SA 5000
Fax to 1300 151 152
Upload to the Emergency Services Health Mobile Claiming App
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 644 Finder guides across topics including:
Get affordable cover for ambulance transport if you are not already covered under Medicare. Compare quotes from Australian funds to decide which level of protection is best for you.
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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
