On this page:
- Who is HCF?
- Premium increase for 2024
- Does HCF get many complaints from members?
- How good is HCF's gap cover?
- How many hospital agreements does HCF have in each state?
- Does HCF offer ambulance cover?
- Does HCF offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Does HCF let you claim online or in-app?
Who is HCF?
Established in 1932, HCF is Australia's largest nonprofit health fund with almost 1.9 million members. HCF has several dental and eyecare centres in Sydney, and offers health and wellbeing services such as quit smoking programs and swimming lessons. It's also part of Members Health, an alliance of nonprofit and mutual health funds.
Phone: 131 334
Website: hcf.com.au
Premium increase for 2024
HCF increased its health insurance premiums on 1 April 2024 by an average of 2.89%.
This compares with an average premium increase of 3.03% and is the smallest increase of the five major health funds:
Review, switch and save
If you want to check whether you're getting the best deal, you can review your health insurance at any time (in fact, it's good practice to do it at least once a year). To help you wade through the seemingly infinite options, our insurance experts developed a tool that lets you compare health insurance policies based on your needs so you can find cover that works for you, and potentially save yourself hundreds.
Does HCF get many complaints from members?
HCF has a Medium complaints rating.
When we score policies we give each fund a complaints rating, based on the number of complaints and serious disputes the Ombudsman deals with. We take into account the size of the fund, so big funds don't get automatically penalised for having more complaints. The ratings are Low, Medium and High. A Low rating is better than a High rating – it means the fund has fewer complaints and fewer serious disputes for its size.
How good is HCF's gap cover?
A medical gap is the difference between Medicare's recommended fee and what your doctor actually charges for a treatment or service.
Health funds have agreements with particular doctors and hospitals to cover all of the gap, which are called 'no gap agreements', or part of that gap, which are called 'known gap agreements' (these will have lower out-of-pocket costs, usually less than $500).
Our graphic below displays the CHOICE gap rating, which takes into account the percentage of services where members either paid no gap or a known gap, compared to the state average.
Rating scale
- Well above average
- Above average
- Average
- Below average
- Well below average
How many hospital agreements does HCF have in each state?
The benefit amount your fund pays you for hospital services depends not only on the type of cover you buy, but also whether your fund has an agreement with the hospital where you're treated.
The table below shows how many hospital agreements HCF has in your state compared to the fund with the highest number (the industry maximum). Note that public hospitals don't have agreements with specific funds and are generally treated as though they're agreement hospitals.
Does HCF offer ambulance cover?
All HCF extras, hospital and combined policies have emergency ambulance cover. Cover is capped for extras cover at one service per person / two per policy a year.
Does HCF offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Adult children are covered on family policies for free until they turn 22.
- Full-time students are covered on family policies for free until they turn 31.
- Adult children younger than 31 can be covered on extended family policies for an extra cost.
Does HCF let you claim online or in-app?
Online claiming is available for dental, physio, therapies, pharmacy and artificial appliances, and there's an app (iOS and Android) for extras claiming.
We're on your side
For more than 60 years, we've been making a difference for Australian consumers. In that time, we've never taken ads or sponsorship.
Instead we're funded by members who value expert reviews and independent product testing.
With no self-interest behind our advice, you don't just buy smarter, you get the answers that you need.
You know without hesitation what's safe for you and your family.
And you'll never be alone when something goes wrong or a business treats you unfairly.
Learn more about CHOICE membership today
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
