Healthcare for your family overseas

Defence may help pay the healthcare costs for family who are overseas with a member on a long-term posting.

To learn more about your own healthcare when overseas, search for the ‘Defence Health Manual’ on the Defence Protected Network (DPN) and go to Chapter 2 ‘Health preparation for overseas postings’.

Your recognised dependants may have some of their healthcare costs covered if they’re living with or visiting you on a long-term overseas posting.

For healthcare purposes, a recognised dependant is:

• your partner
• your child, or your partner’s child, under 21 years old
• someone else who Defence has approved to be your dependant.

Your family can get help with healthcare from the start of their journey to their overseas location until they arrive back in Australia.

You can’t claim healthcare costs for your family during any time you aren’t getting overseas living allowances.

If your dependants are in Australia, or return to Australia and receive healthcare while in Australia, you can’t claim the costs as overseas health costs. 

Example:

You and your family are posted overseas.

Your posting ends and you return home while your child stays overseas to finish their final year of school.

Your child will not be covered after you return to Australia.

Defence may cover the costs for medical items or services that:

• would have been covered by Medicare, or another Australian government benefit if your dependant were in Australia.
• aren’t already covered by local arrangements at your posting location.

Other than GP appointments, some services will need to be approved by your Post Administration before Defence will cover them.

For each financial year, you’ll pay:

• the first A$25 of medical costs for each dependant under 15 years old at the start of the financial year.
• the first A$69 for each dependant 15 years or older at the start of the financial year.

Defence will then cover the costs for the rest of the financial year.

Routine medical checks

Defence may help pay for your dependants to have a routine medical check to test for illnesses and diseases present in your posting location but not commonly found in Australia.

Routine medical checks can happen:

• at your posting location
• in Australia after returning from your posting location.

Routine medical checks need prior approval to be covered.

Example:

You and your family return to Australia from your posting in the Solomon Islands.

Post Administration approves your child to be screened for Zika virus.

After your Medicare benefit, there is a A$40 excess cost for the screening.

Defence will cover this excess cost.

Hospital costs

Defence may cover the cost of your dependants’ hospital visits, including accommodation, ambulance transport, and treatment costs.

Hospital accommodation is a shared room of a similar standard to a public hospital in Australia.  Medications you take home from the hospital aren’t included, but you may be able to claim them as a pharmaceutical cost.

Post Administration will need to approve any procedures which are not emergencies or don’t require urgent care.

Pharmaceutical costs

Defence may cover pharmaceutical products which are:

• on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in Australia
• prescribed by a doctor
• cost at least the threshold cost.

The threshold cost is the minimum cost of the pharmaceutical for which you must pay. You can claim the difference between the actual cost of the pharmaceutical and the threshold cost.

Table 1 summarises the key information when it comes to pharmaceutical costs.

Example:

You are posted to the United Kingdom and your partner travels with you.

In the United Kingdom, your partner is prescribed asthma medication by the GP costing A$40.

You’ll get back A$8.40 for the medication.

If you’re posted to a location for only part of the calendar year, the threshold cost is reduced in proportion to how long you are in the location.

Defence won’t pay for over-the-counter pharmaceutical items, even if they’re prescribed by a doctor.

Dental costs

Defence will only pay for your dependants’ dental costs if they’re medically required and cannot be delayed until your dependants return to Australia.

Defence will pay routine dental costs for children who haven't yet started secondary school, including:

• cleaning
• check-ups
• extractions
• fillings
• x-rays
• preventative care.

Defence won’t cover:

• dentures
• orthodontics.

You’ll have to pay the first A$40 for dental care each financial year for any dependant child who hasn’t yet started secondary school.

Prior approval is needed for dental treatment beyond annual check-ups.

Other healthcare costs

Defence may help pay extra healthcare costs for some services that aren’t covered by Medicare, but are covered by Medibank Private Extras insurance, such as:

• optical services
• physiotherapy
• speech pathology.

If the service costs more than it would’ve in Australia, you can claim the difference. The cost in Australia is determined by:

• your private healthcare fund
• Medibank Private, if you don’t have private healthcare.

Defence will only cover services where there is a clear medical need. Defence won’t cover cosmetic procedures such as coloured contact lenses with no corrective function.

Example:

You’ve paid A$200 for your partner to get physiotherapy overseas.

Your insurance fund estimates A$100 as the cost of the same treatment in Australia.

Defence will pay you back A$100 for the service.

Defence may pay for your dependants to travel away from your posting location to get healthcare if the care they need:

• can't be provided at your posting location
• can't be delayed until your dependant is away from your posting location for other reasons.

Defence may also pay for you or another member of your family to travel with your dependant.

Talk to your Post Administration to arrange travel for healthcare.

Travel by plane

Your dependant and anybody approved to accompany them will usually travel in economy class.

Defence may approve business class travel if:

• a doctor certifies that your dependant is pregnant
• Defence assesses that it’s medically necessary for your dependant to travel in business class.

Defence won’t cover other costs such as:

• excess baggage charges
• parking fees
• travel to and from the airport.

Travel by private vehicle

If travel by private vehicle is the cheapest and most efficient way to travel to get healthcare then Defence may cover the costs.

Accommodation and meal costs

If your dependant travels to another location for healthcare, Defence may help pay for some of the accommodation and meal costs.

To claim the costs of your dependants’ healthcare, send the relevant information to Post Administration if you’re serving in a country with an Australian diplomatic mission.

If you’re not in a country with an Australian diplomatic mission, send the relevant documents to the embassy or high commission where the controlling Defence Attaché is located.

Relevant documents may include:

• receipts or invoices
• approval records
• doctor’s notes
• any other information required by your Post Administration.

You can also ask Defence to pay healthcare costs directly to the provider instead of paying up front and then getting paid back.