Most regular surgical and healthcare insurance policies provide only limited cover for cancer treatments and drugs. Such cover is often not enough to pay for cancer drugs that are not funded by Pharmac, which can cost upwards of $100,000 per year.
However, many health insurance companies do offer add-on packages that provide the extra insurance cover required to pay for expensive cancer drugs. In this article, we look at the cancer health insurance cover available from the following insurance providers:
- Southern Cross
- NIB
- AIA
- Accuro
- AA Health Insurance
Cancer cover: Southern Cross
Southern Cross's three standard health insurance plans – Wellbeing One, Wellbeing Two and Ultracare – each offer unlimited cover for radiology and surgical treatments. However there is a base level of $60,000 chemotherapy cover per claims year, inclusive of $10,000 for non-Pharmac funded chemotherapy drugs.
To supplement this level of cancer treatment cover, Southern Cross offers two add-on insurance products:
Cancer Cover Plus: the upgrade offers two tiers of optional cover: Chemotherapy 100, which extends cover to $100k per claims year, and Chemotherapy 300, which lifts the cover limit to $300k.
Cancer Assist: rather than pay for chemotherapy, should you be diagnosed with certain types of cancer, this optional insurance product provides a one-off tax-free payment for you to spend how you wish. Cover level options: $20k, $50k, $100k, $200k and $300k.
Cancer cover: NIB
NIB's two hospital plans – Standard and Premium – cover cancer surgery up to $300k and cancer treatment to $200k per claims year. However, while both plans will pay for Pharmac-funded drugs for use at home up to $10,000 per claims year, only the Premium plan offers non-Pharmac funded chemotherapy drugs, and then with a $20,000 cap.
But NIB also offers the add-on: Non-PHARMAC Plus. It's not cancer-specific, and provides cover for a range of non-Pharmac funded drugs, including those for chemotherapy. Cover level options: $50k, $100k, $200k and $300k.
Cancer cover: AIA
AIA has one standard insurance policy: Private Health. Its extensive cancer benefits provide unlimited cover for radiology and surgical treatments, plus up to $500k per policy year for chemotherapy drugs, including those not funded by Pharmac.
However, AIA also offers a cancer-only Cancer Care policy. This policy offers all the same benefits as AIA's Private Health policy, but only for cancer-related treatments, providing a more economical level of health insurance for those worried about cancer care.
Cancer cover: Accuro
Accuro has two health insurance policies: SmartCare and SmartCare+. As the latter's name suggests, it's the most comprehensive of the two policies, and covers funding for non-Pharmac funded chemotherapy drugs.
SmartCare provides, per claims year:
- $300k general surgery
- $65k cancer treatment, including Pharmac-approved cancer drugs
SmartCare+ provides, per claims year:
- $500k general surgery
- $300k cancer treatment
- Non-Pharmac funded chemotherapy drugs are covered under the $500k general surgery benefit.
Cancer cover: AA Health Insurance
AA Health Insurance is underwritten by NIB, as a result the details of the insurance providers' policies are similar.
AA Heath Insurance's Private Hospital Cover policy pays for cancer surgery up to $300k and cancer treatment to $200k per claims year. It also includes cover for Pharmac-funded drugs for use at home, plus non-Pharmac funded chemotherapy drugs, each up to a $10,000 cap.
AA Health Insurance also offers the add-on: Non-PHARMAC Plus. It's not cancer-specific, and provides cover for a range of non-Pharmac funded drugs, including those for chemotherapy. Cover level options: $50k, $100k, $200k and $300k.
Note that conditions apply to all the above health insurance plans, especially concerning age limits, pre-existing conditions and hereditary factors. When arranging health insurance cover, it's important to read product disclosure statements thoroughly, to ensure you get the right levels of cover for your health insurance needs.