Switching health insurance to GMHBA
How switching health insurance works
Changing health funds should be simple, and at GMHBA, we want to make switching your health insurance as smooth and pain-free as possible. Here’s how the process usually works:
Pick your GMHBA policy and either join online, over the phone during business hours or in a branch and we do the rest. All you need to do is tell us your previous insurer and membership number when you sign up, simple! Our team can then cancel your old membership and obtain the transfer certificate from your previous insurer.
*Join on the same or lower level of cover within 30 days of your previous cover ceasing, and we’ll recognise any waiting periods you’ve already served. You’ll only have to serve waiting periods if you’re increasing your level of cover, e.g., more services included and/or higher benefit amounts. Any extras benefits you’ve already claimed this calendar year with your previous fund, will also count towards your GMHBA annual limits. But don’t worry, GMHBA annual limits reset 1 January each year.
Considering a change, why switch health insurance?
Just like any other form of insurance, it’s important to regularly check and make sure your private health cover is ticking all the right boxes. Are your premiums too high? Are you happy with your extras? Could you be getting a better deal somewhere else? Are your health needs changing? By switching health insurance to GMHBA, you’re tapping into a whole world of benefits.
Why switch to GMHBA?
Accidents happen. That’s why we have included accident protection on all eligible hospital covers.
All GMHBA hospital covers come with emergency ambulance cover as standard.
GMHBA offer an age-based discount across all hospital covers for members aged between 18-29 years old joining on their own policy.
For nearly 90 years, we’ve believed that health insurance should be run to benefit members, not shareholders.
For new members, we will refund any premiums paid as long as you haven’t made a claim.
GMHBA have partnered with a range of providers to help eligible members gain access to additional health support.
Can I switch private health insurance?
Sure! Anyone with private health insurance cover is entitled to switch to a new provider at any time. You’re not locked into one particular policy or fund for a set period of time. The trick is figuring out what features and benefits are most important to you.
How to switch health insurance providers
At GMHBA, we’ve tried to simplify the switching process as much as we can. Here’s how it works:
- Choose your new policy. Browse our covers to find one that’s right for you.
- Join GMHBA. Either online, over the phone or in a branch
- We’ll do the rest. Simply provide your fund details during the sign-up process, and we’ll get in contact with your previous insurer to cancel your old cover. Any premiums paid beyond your cancellation date will be refunded by your previous insurer.
When changing health funds, you get to choose the date you’d like your new cover to begin. We’ll cancel your old policy from the same date, so there are no gaps in your coverage.
Practical considerations when switching health insurance
So you’d like to join GMHBA. That’s great! There are just a few practical things we need to run through first. Think of this as your switching health insurance checklist.
- Picking the right policy. This one’s very important. If you’re planning to switch health insurance providers, you need to find a new policy that’s right for you. You can browse GMHBA’s covers here, or chat to our friendly team. They’ll help you find cover that fits your circumstances.
- Waiting periods. As already mentioned, when you switch your private health insurance, your previous insurer will provide you and GMHBA with a transfer certificate. A transfer certificate outlines your cover history and helps us recognise any waiting periods you’ve already served. It’s important to note that if you upgrade your cover, you will have to serve the standard waiting periods before you access any newly included services and/or higher benefits. Learn more about waiting periods.
- Timing the switch. We want you to have uninterrupted, continuous cover during the switch. And that’s easy to do. Just let us know which date you’d like to change policies, and we can request that your old cover is cancelled on that date.
Frequently asked questions about switching health insurance
Switching to GMHBA health insurance is easy. Just pick the right cover for you and let us know who you’re insured with, and, with your permission, we’ll do the rest.
That depends. You need to have fully completed your waiting periods on your previous cover. If you haven't, you'd need to serve the balance of the waits before being covered when you take out a GMHBA policy. It also depends on whether you’re increasing your level of cover or not. Generally, you don’t need to re-serve your waiting periods when:
- You’re switching to the same or lower level of cover, and have served these waiting periods at your previous fund; and
- You’re switching within 30 days of leaving your previous insurer.
- GMHBA receives a transfer certificate which details your cover history with your previous insurer confirming the waiting periods have been served. All private health insurers are required by law to provide a transfer certificate within 14 days of receiving the request.
You will need to re-serve your waiting periods when:
- Your new extras cover has a benefit that you haven’t served a waiting period on; or
- Your new extras cover has an increased benefit on a service or increased annual limit.
- Before you can claim the increased benefit amount, you'll need to serve the required waiting period. For any services rendered while you're serving the waits, you’ll be covered under your old benefits/limits. Once you’ve served the waits, any services rendered after the waits have been served will be covered under your new policy benefit/limits
- Your new hospital cover includes clinical categories not included on your old cover
- You haven’t served the full waiting periods on your old cover; when you take out any type of policy with GMHBA, you’ll just need to serve the balance between your old cover and your new cover before you can claim. For example, when you were with your previous health fund on Silver Hospital for 5 months, and then switch to GMHBA. Provided you’ve chosen the same level of cover, you’ll only need to serve 7 months of waiting periods for pre-existing conditions with GMHBA. Learn more about waiting periods.
It’s no problem to increase your levels of hospital cover during the switch, but you will need to serve waits for any hospital clinical categories you haven’t previously been covered for (including 12 month waiting period for pre-existing conditions). To understand waiting periods in more detail please see ‘Do I need to reserve waiting periods’ FAQ or visit our waiting period page to learn more.
When you increase your extras cover during the switch, you will need to serve waits for any extras services or higher benefit amounts you haven’t previously been covered for. To understand waiting periods in more detail please see ‘Do I need to reserve waiting periods’ FAQ or visit our waiting period page to learn more.
Yes. Extras claims made with your previous fund in this calendar year will be carried over to your new GMHBA policy. Your remaining extras limits will be adjusted to reflect these claims, and most will reset on 1 January for extras services with annual limits.
You can switch health insurance at any time. Your previous fund will refund any premiums you’ve paid beyond your cancellation date when you switch.
Continuity of cover simply means you don’t have a gap in cover where you’re not insured by either provider.
To ensure you have continuity of cover:
- You need to join GMHBA within 30 days of leaving your old insurer;
- We get a copy of your transfer certificate as soon as possible. Your previous fund has 14 days to provide one.
A smooth transition with GMHBA
We encourage all private health insurance policy holders to regularly check to make sure their policy is still right for them. Your health needs may change over time, and the benefits of switching health insurance providers can be substantial. If you need any help with changing health insurance, just get in touch.