COVID-19
member updates

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health crisis for our community, which is why HBF has made the decision to cancel this year’s premium increase which was due to take effect 1 April 2020.

Being a not-for-profit health insurer with no obligations to shareholders has allowed us to focus on the interests of our members and be there when they need us most.

To find out more about the cancellation of premium increase in 2020 visit our frequently asked questions.

If you’re an eligible member^# and are experiencing financial hardship, we’re here to help. We have these support measures in place:

1. If you are in receipt of the JobSeeker payment:
   • AND been a member for 1+ years: you may be eligible to suspend your policy for up to 15 months depending on your length of membership with us.
   • AND been a member for 3+ years: you may be eligible for up to 9 months of complimentary cover, depending on your length of membership with us.
2. If you are not receiving the JobSeeker payment:
   • AND been with us more than 1 month^{^}: you may be eligible to suspend your policy for up to 6 months.
3. If you have the Gap Saver feature:
   • We’re temporarily* allowing members to use their Gap Saver accrued entitlements to pay for their health insurance premiums.

Just give our friendly Member Contact Centre a call on 133 423 and they will happily help discuss your options with you.

At HBF, so long as you have an active eligible hospital policy^# and served your standard 2 month waiting period , we will pay benefits towards chest, heart, lung and kidney hospital admissions related to any COVID-19 treatment*. This is a temporary benefit we’re making available, no matter what level of eligible hospital cover you have.

This temporary benefit is available until December 31 2020.

To ensure that we are there for our members in the moments that matter, HBF has introduced temporary benefits for certain Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Dietetics, Nutrition, Podiatry and Exercise Physiology treatments when delivered via phone or video (also known as telehealth treatments). Temporary telehealth benefits will be available until December 31 2020.

Normal waiting periods, exclusions, benefits and limits apply.

HBF is committed to transparency on the impacts of COVID-19 to our business and has promised that if there are significant savings to HBF related to the pandemic these will be returned to members.

It is not yet clear whether the pause in elective surgery and certain other services will result in a significant reduction in claims costs, particularly given the pandemic is still evolving in parts of Australia.

In May 2020, HBF contributed $2.5 million to fund the WA State Government’s two week DETECT Snapshot project. This testing program measured the incidence of COVID-19 in asymptomatic people working throughout WA in key frontline industries including healthcare, police, education, hospitality and retail.

This largescale testing program found no cases of COVID-19, confirming that currently there is no community transmission of the virus in this state. This HBF-funded initiative has provided enormous reassurance to all Western Australians, and helped inform Western Australia’s continuing management of the State’s COVID-19 response.