How does private health insurance work?

Private health insurance works on the basis that you take out a policy and pay an insurer a monthly premium. 

In return, the insurer provides you with health cover.

Depending on the policy you take out, private health insurance helps you pay for:

• Hospital Cover (treatment in hospital as a private patient)
• Extras Cover (medical costs that Medicare does not cover)
• Ambulance Cover.

If you want both Hospital Cover and Extras Cover, you can take out combined cover or mix and match separate policies to meet your needs.