Updated 14 February 2022

From the outset we made a commitment to not profit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we’re delivering on this promise, giving savings back to members by:

1. Freezing premiums until October 2022!
   
   AND
   
   
2. Rolling unused Annual Extras Benefit Limits over to 2022!

These measures build on our existing COVID support package, which includes:

• Physical and mental health support
• Financial hardship assistance

We won’t increase your premium on 1 April – it’ll be locked in until October 2022. Hopefully this will help to ease financial pressures as we take our first steps out of the pandemic.

Extras benefit limits usually reset on 1 January each year – not this time!

Yoyo-ing COVID-19 restrictions may have stopped you from making full use of your Extras, so we’re giving you more time to get maximum value from your cover by rolling over unused annual limits from 2021 to 2022.

See rollover terms and conditions

At the start of the pandemic, we introduced the following measures – they’ve since been extended to 31 December 2022:

• Telehealth – We’ve always paid benefits towards telepsychology under Extras cover. We’ve since extended this to a wider range of services, including physio, chiro and speech therapy.
  
  
• Mental Wellness Program – This phone-based program is always available to eligible members^{^} with Hospital cover via Teachers Healthcare Services.
  
  More on mental health support during COVID-19
  
  
• Cover for COVID-19 – Members on all levels of Hospital cover are covered for COVID-19 admissions, including cover for any adverse reaction or side-effect to a COVID-19 vaccine which requires admission to hospital. This is especially relevant for members on our Basic Plus products StarterPak, Basic Hospital and Mid Hospital (who wouldn’t have had full cover for COVID-19 admissions otherwise).
  
  
• New Family Program – our New Family Program remains open to more members^{^} with Hospital cover. This is to help families who may struggle to access standard ante and postnatal services during COVID-19.

^{^}This program is brought to members through Teachers Healthcare Services, an initiative of Teachers Health to support members’ health and wellbeing through quality, evidence-based health management programs and services. To be eligible for this program you must be a member of Teachers Health and have Hospital cover with all relevant waiting periods served. Additional eligibility criteria may apply. Eligible members are connected with a dedicated Teachers Healthcare Services care coordinator who supports them on their personal journey.

We’re here to help if you’re experiencing financial stress due to COVID-19. Here are two ways we’ve been supporting members:

• Financial hardship suspension – If you’re having financial difficulties, you can apply to suspend your membership.
  
  
• Overseas travel suspension – We’ve relaxed the rules on suspension to better support members who suspended their cover and are stuck overseas. For suspended members that are overseas and have exceeded the 3 year suspension threshold, but are unable to return home due to the pandemic, upon request, we will allow the membership to remain suspended until up to and including 28/02/2022 (Australian citizens are now permitted to return home).  

For more information on Hospital cover during COVID-19, check out these FAQs.

Need to talk to us urgently about a hospital admission? We’ve created a fast-track process for members with COVID-19-related questions – please get in touch here.​