How does dental cover work?
It’s not just dental nurses and nagging parents that think regular dental check-ups, cleaning and fast treatment for minor dental problems are important. All these things can stop more serious and expensive dental problems down the track. Even a simple dental check-up can be expensive, which can be reason enough to keep Aussies away from the dentist.
Having cheap dental insurance can be affordable, the question is how to choose the right dental cover from the right health insurer for the right price?
Max Hospital 750 (Silver+) & Lots Extras 80% Back
- Optical
- Podiatry
- Dental
- Emergency Ambulance Cover
- Joint replacements
- Cataracts
- Sleep studies
Max Hospital 750 (Silver+) & Lots Extras 50% Back
- Optical
- Podiatry
- Dental
- Emergency Ambulance Cover
- Joint replacements
- Cataracts
- Sleep studies
Max Hospital 750 (Silver+) & More Extras
- Major Dental & Orthodontics
- 100% back on Optical
- Health Maintenance
- Podiatry
- Emergency Ambulance Cover
- Joint replacements
- Cataracts
- Sleep studies
* The price shown is per week and applies to a Single, aged 30, living in VIC. It excludes LHC loading and includes a Base Tier Government Rebate
| Extras services (when included on cover) |
|---|
| All extras benefits except as specified below. Waiting Period: 2 Months |
| Optical, home and domestic aids and medical aids. Waiting Period: 6 months |
| Major dental services (including full & partial dentures, orthodontics, crown & bridgework, endodontic services such as root canal, gold fillings, indirect restorations, surgical extractions of a tooth/teeth including wisdom teeth). Waiting Period: 12 Months |
| Health appliances including nebuliser pump, blood glucose monitor, pressure garments, sleep apnoea monitor, extremity pump, hearing aids, orthopaedic appliances (GMHBA approved), prostheses (GMHBA approved non-surgical), tens monitor, podiatry surgical procedures and orthotic appliances (foot). Waiting Period: 12 Months |
| Hospital services (when included on cover) |
|---|
| Accidents - bodily injuries resulting from accidents which occur after the date of joining GMHBA or upgrading to a higher cover. Waiting Period: No |
| Obstetrics and maternity. Waiting Period: 12 months |
| Pre-existing ailment, illness or condition (other than psychiatric, rehabilitation and palliative care). Waiting Period: 12 months |
| Any other benefit for hospital (or hospital substitution) treatment. Waiting Period: 2 months |
A pre-existing condition is one where signs or symptoms of your ailment, illness or condition, in the opinion of a medical practitioner appointed by GMHBA (not your own doctor), existed at any time during the six months preceding the day on which you purchased your hospital insurance or upgraded to a higher level of hospital cover and/or benefit entitlement.
A special waiting period applies to obtain benefits for hospital treatment for new members who have pre-existing conditions. The waiting period also applies to existing members who have recently upgraded their level of hospital cover. If the ailment, illness or condition is considered pre-existing:
New members
New members must wait 12 months for any hospital benefits (other than psychiatric, rehabilitation and palliative care).
Existing members (transferring or upgrading)
Members transferring/upgrading to a higher hospital cover must wait 12 months to get the higher hospital benefits (other than psychiatric, rehabilitation and palliative care).
Existing members (with at least 12 months membership)
Existing members with at least 12 months membership in total across their old and new cover are entitled to the lower benefits on their old cover.
Silver Hospital cover provides the same single room coverage as Gold Hospital, but co-payments of $100 per day up to a maximum of $700 per admission apply. Co-payments are not the same as hospital excess. Please note: Some private hospitals only have single rooms and co-payments will apply.
Co-payments do not apply.
While dental treatment might be expensive and complicated, we don’t think finding the best cheap dental insurance should be. At Frank, we think health insurance should be simple and affordable. It should be simple to find, simple to use and simple to claim. And there is no point paying for a heap of stuff you will never use, so we have designed our covers to make it easy for you to find the best and most simple cheap dental insurance for you.
We’ll start with the basics of cheap dental insurance. Most health funds have two covers – hospital and extras. Hospital insurance can cover you for all the things you need when you are admitted to hospital, including surgery. Extras cover can provide benefits for a heap of treatments and services outside of hospital, like physio, chiro, optical and things like alternative therapies. Dental is usually included in extras cover. Most Australian health funds offer two different kinds of dental insurance – major and general. General can provide benefits for the less complicated stuff like check-ups, fillings and simple extractions. Major dental is for the more complicated stuff like root canals, crowns and bridges.
How much can I get back?
When it comes to extras cover and cheap dental insurance, most health funds will offer policies with different dental cover options. This can help you to pick the cheap dental insurance you can afford. Generally, the more extras included in a policy, the more expensive the premiums are. Most health funds, including Frank offer either set benefits for extras covers, or a percentage back. That means that a health fund will pay for either a set amount or a percentage of the cost of treatments. Frank’s extras range makes it easy to choose between getting the same amount back or a set percentage back per visit, up to your annual limits.
Both our cheapest dental insurance policies (Frank Some and Frank Lots) offer benefits of 50% or 80% back, which allows you to choose the right policy for you, as well as decide how much you want to claim. You might be thinking: “Why wouldn’t I want to claim more back on each dentist visit?” Well, there are two quick answers to that. The first one is that a policy with 50% benefits might have cheaper premiums than the 80% one. The second answer is around annual limits. Annual limits are the maximum amount you can claim in a calendar year for specific treatments as part of your cheap dental insurance, and all other types of extras cover. So, having benefits of 50% instead of 80% can mean that you can spread the annual limit out over the course of the year – this is ideal if you are likely to use the dentist more regularly than the odd check up.
When can I start claiming?
In Australia, most health funds have the same waiting periods when it comes to cheap dental insurance. For general dental, it is usually two months. For major dental, it is twleve. So, it can be worth signing up as quickly as you can if you think cheap dental insurance is something you might need in the near future.
Another little tip is to shop around when it comes to choosing the right dentist. Most cheap health insurance covers (and even expensive ones) will only pay for part of the dentist's bill. Dentists don't have standard pricing, so if you want to pay as little as you can for your treatment, it might be worth comparing dentists and what they charge. Some funds may require you to have treatment at specific dental clinics, or with dentists, linked to them. We don’t do that at Frank. We want you to have the freedom to choose whoever you want. That can make things a lot easier and can make it easier to fit treatment into your budget.
Like all important decisions, you should always check the fine print and make sure any cheap dental insurance policy fits your lifestyle and your needs. Look for private health funds that offer many options and are available at a reasonable price. Make sense? Take a look at our low-cost extras cover here.
Get extras cover and save 15% - 40%* off dental treatments with smile.com.au
*Savings may vary between dentists. It is recommended that members obtain a quote prior to treatment.
