An excess is the amount you agree to pay towards the cost of hospital treatment. For example if you have an excess of $500, when you’re admitted to hospital you’ll have to pay the first $500 of the hospital costs on top of anything else not covered by your policy.
A co-payment is the agreed amount you’ll pay per day in hospital.
At Emergency Services Health our hospital cover has no excesses or co-payments (other than where Waiting Periods apply for transfers) because we know that this can become a barrier to treatment when other unexpected and uncontrollable out of pocket costs hit at the same time – such as gap payments for doctors and anaesthesiologists who charge over the MBS fee, and legally uninsurable out patient consults with specialists.
These unexpected costs often hit patients at the same time that they’re dealing with a loss of income, so removing any excess or co-payments from the equation helps protect our members from the unforeseen – as we believe good insurance should.