Having a health fund, specifically extras cover, can be hit and miss for value for money. Whether you come out on top depends on how often you decide to use your cover and for what services.

Extras cover, also known as ‘general cover’, can cover services including dental, optical, physio and other alternative health services such as chiropractics, remedial massage and sometimes acupuncture and other natural remedies.

While this article does not debate whether extras cover is worth it when compared to paying out of pocket, it aims to find out which health fund, in Queensland, returns the most value for dental. This allows patients, if they have decided that extras cover is suitable, to determine which funds provides the best returns using open data provided by the Australian Government’s Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.

This data is impartially provided by the 2017 State of the Health Funds Report, an annual publication monitoring the private health insurance industry. Unlike online tools like iSelect, Compare the Market, Canstar, etc…, this government data is open and impartial.

The results

Based on this data the average Queensland percentage covered by extras cover is 54.4%. This means that for every $1 that you pay into your cover, you can expect to have 54.4 cents returned back to you. Does that seem fair?

When compared to the national average of 86% cover for hospital cover, extra cover returns far less.

The best fund for dental (extras cover) is Reserve Bank Health Society Ltd, returning 76.9%. Unfortunately, this fund along with the next 3 best performing funds, are all restricted in their membership. This means you are not eligible for membership unless you or your spouse have worked for the Reserve Bank (a very exclusive club from what it appears).

The Best Non-Restricted Funds for Dental in Queensland

Based on this data, the best 4 funds of 2017-2018 are:

  1. St Lukes Health – A non-for-profit fund returning 58.8%
  2. HCF – A non-for-profit fund returning 57.2%
  3. NIB – A for profit fund returning 56%
  4. CBHS Corporate Health – a for profit fund returning 55.4%

What is noticeable is that out of the 4 biggest health fund players: BUPA, NIB, Medibank and HCF – HCF and NIB come out best according to this data.

Secondly, coverage rates for hospital rates do not correspond with extras coverage rates. A good health fund for hospital cover may be poor in covering extras, and vice versa.

Best health fund for dental qld 2017 tablePDF Link

For more information on this data or for anything else dental, contact us on 07 3357 4177.