Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
The Australian Government requires that all international students* and their dependents be covered by Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the length of their student visa.
OSHC will help you to pay for medical (doctor, pathology, x-rays) and hospital care and will contribute towards the cost of most prescription medicines and emergency ambulance transport. Expenses not covered by OSHC include dental and optical services, physiotherapy or treatment for medical conditions in existence before you came to Australia. OSHC is not general travel insurance and will not cover loss of personal items (such as cameras or laptops) while you are in Australia.
The University is required to provide an OSHC provider to you for the first 12 months of your study, and UOW’s preferred provider is Australian Health Management (AHM). However, you are free to choose your provider from the other three OSHC providers ie, Medibank Private, Worldcare Assist or BUPA. It is however a requirement of your visa that you maintain health cover for the whole period of study. If you want to stay with AHM after 12 months, you can renew quickly and easily by contacting the University directly.
Your first payment of OSHC is made to the University and your membership with AHM for the first 12 months of your course (of the length of your course if less than 12 months) is organised for you.
The OSHC payment must be made when accepting your offer of admission to the University, and is included in the commencement fee on your Offer Acceptance and Payment Advice. An eCOE (required for your student visa application) cannot be issued until payment for OSHC is received by the University. Subsequent OSHC payments must be paid directly to AHM or another registered OSHC provider.
Current OSHC fees are as follows:
| |
Single |
Family |
| Up to 3 months |
$78.75
|
$157.50
|
| Up to 6 months |
$157.50
|
$315.00
|
| Up to 9 months |
$263.25
|
$472.50
|
| Up to 12 months |
$315.00
|
$630.00
|
Your membership card will be sent to the University which will forward this to you in the first few weeks of your studies. You are required to keep your address updated with both the University and AHM to ensure that all correspondence and refund cheques are received.
* Swedish and Norwegian students who are eligible for their home government insurance are not required to take out OSHC. Swedish and Norwegian students who are not eligible for their home government insurance should contact the University of Wollongong as soon as possible to arrange OSHC.
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