On this page:
- Who is Qantas Insurance?
- Premium increase for 2023
- How to save on your Qantas health insurance premium
- Does Qantas get many complaints from members?
- How good is Qantas gap cover?
- How many hospital agreements does Qantas have in each state?
- Does Qantas offer ambulance cover?
- Does Qantas offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Does Qantas let you claim online or in-app?
Who is Qantas Insurance?![]()
Qantas Insurance is a recent arrival to the health insurance market. It's issued by NIB and arranged by Qantas Airways. Qantas Insurance offers special promotions for Qantas Frequent Flyer members and points can be earned on premiums.
NIB also operates these other health funds:
- Suncorp
- AAMI
- Apia
- GU Health (corporate fund).
Phone: 13 49 60
Website: insurance.qantas.com/health-insurance
Premium increase for 2023
Qantas is part of NIB and will increase its health insurance premiums on 1 October 2023 by an average of 2.72%.
This compares with an average premium increase of 2.9% and is the lowest increase of the five major health funds:
- Medibank – 2.96% increase on 1 June 2023
- HCF – 3.33% increase on 1 September 2023
- Bupa – 3.39% increase from 1 October 2023
- HBF – 4.49% increase on 1 April 2023.
Alongside Qantas and NIB, Australia's largest health fund, Bupa, will also increase premiums on 1 October.
How to save on your Qantas health insurance premium
You can review your private health insurance at any time to see if you're getting the best deal (it's good practice to do it at least once a year). With thousands of health insurance policies on the market, it can be hard to make sense of your options. So our insurance experts developed a tool that lets you compare health insurance policies so you can find cover that works for you, and potentially save yourself hundreds.
If you decide your current policy is good value for money and suits your needs, prepay your premium by 30 September. This is an excellent way to save money as it 'locks in' your current premium and means you'll avoid the 1 October price increase for up to 12 months.
Qantas discounts and promo offers
While Qantas does not offer discounts for paying by direct debit or prepaying your annual premium, there is a rewards program linked to its Qantas Frequent Flyer program.
Qantas promo offer
If you take out a health insurance policy with Qantas before 4 October 2023, you'll get:
- between 4800 and 140,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, depending on your level of cover (part of the points will only be awarded after 180 days of cover*)
- immediate cover for extras items that usually have a two- or six-month waiting period.
*For example, a single Basic policy entitles you to 4800 Qantas points, while a top cover couples/family policy entitles you to 140,000 Qantas points.
Bear in mind conditions apply and the best offers are often only available if you take out a top cover hospital and extras combined policy, so make sure the policy meets your needs and budget. A few weeks of free cover can be very costly in the long run if you take out a bad-value health insurance policy.
Does Qantas get many complaints from members?
Qantas Health Insurance has a Medium complaints rating (this includes NIB).
When we score policies we give each fund a complaints rating, based on the number of complaints and serious disputes the Ombudsman deals with. We take into account the size of the fund, so big funds don't get automatically penalised for having more complaints. The ratings are Low, Medium and High. A Low rating is better than a High rating – it means the fund has fewer complaints and fewer serious disputes for its size.
How good is Qantas gap cover?
A medical gap is the difference between Medicare's recommended fee and what your doctor actually charges for a treatment or service.
Health funds have agreements with particular doctors and hospitals to cover all of the gap, which are called 'no gap agreements', or part of that gap, which are called 'known gap agreements' (these will have lower out-of-pocket costs, usually less than $500).
Our graphic below displays the CHOICE gap rating for NIB (Qantas Health Insurance's parent company), which takes into account the percentage of services where members either paid no gap or a known gap, compared to the state average.
Rating scale
- Well above average
- Above average
- Average
- Below average
- Well below average
How many hospital agreements does Qantas have in each state?
The benefit amount your fund pays you for hospital services depends not only on the type of cover you buy, but also whether your fund has an agreement with the hospital where you're treated.
The table below shows how many hospital agreements NIB (Qantas Health Insurance's parent company) has in your state compared to the fund with the highest number (the industry maximum). Note that public hospitals don't have agreements with specific funds and are generally treated as though they're agreement hospitals.
Does Qantas offer ambulance cover?
All Qantas Health Insurance policies have emergency ambulance cover in states where it is not provided by the state government.
Does Qantas offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Adult children are covered on family policies for free until they turn 21.
- Full-time students are covered on family policies for free until they turn 31.
- Adult children younger than 32 can be covered on extended family policies for an extra cost.
Does Qantas let you claim online or in-app?
Qantas Health Insurance offers a 'wellbeing' app that offers online claiming as well as a rewards program and health monitoring.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
