Planning pregnancy can be full of surprises and curve balls, so you want to be secure in the things you can control like making sure you have the right level of cover. Pregnancy isn’t covered on every nib policy, so you need to choose a Gold level cover which includes pregnancy and birth-related services.
A 12-month waiting period will apply if you are a new member or have just upgraded your level of cover. If you are moving over to us from a different health fund and you have already served your pregnancy waiting periods, you won’t have to re-serve them.
This means that if you’re planning a baby, and you’d like to use your health insurance to go to a private hospital, you’ll need to be on a health cover that includes pregnancy at least three months before you start trying to fall pregnant.
Please note, if you do need to be admitted for a pregnancy-related complication (such as preeclampsia) but haven't yet served your waiting period in full, you won't be covered.
Easily adjust your cover within minutes by reviewing or changing it online through your member account or the nib App. If you need assistance, feel free to reach out to us.
How to I add my baby to my policy?
Congratulations on the new addition to your family! Read our simple guide on how to add your new baby, adopted child, or foster child to your policy: 'Adding or removing someone from your cover'.
Any ultrasounds, obstetrician or doctor consultations during your pregnancy are considered outpatient services - which means they are not claimable with nib. Medicare may cover some of the costs involved in these consultations.
Your baby will be covered for services that the longest serving parent on the policy is covered for. You’ll still need to add your baby to your policy within an appropriate time frame.
As long as your baby’s Expected Delivery Date (also known as Confinement Date) is after you've served your pregnancy waiting period, you'll be covered for the birth. If you’re concerned your baby will arrive early, we will need a letter from your obstetrician and/or a scan showing the Expected Delivery Date so we can confirm your baby is due after your waiting period ends.
For example, if your waiting period for pregnancy ends on 10 October but your baby is due on 11 October, and you’re concerned the baby might come early, you’ll need to provide us with a Expected Delivery Date letter and/or scan showing the baby is due 11 October.
We can cover some of the costs relating to IVF and GIFT inpatient services depending on your level of cover, if the hospital is an nib Agreement Hospital, and how much the specialist charges.
Most of the IVF process is as an outpatient, which means you will most likely have large out of pocket expenses. Outpatient specialist fees or other outpatient fees in relation to assisted reproductive services (for example, laboratory and storage fees) are not covered.
As with pregnancy cover, there is a 12 month waiting period to be able to claim for this service. Any ultrasounds, obstetrician or doctor consultations during pregnancy are considered outpatient services which means they are not claimable with nib. Medicare may cover some of the costs involved in these consultations.
Ensuring your dependant is covered by health insurance
Discover how your dependants can stay protected by health insurance.
From 1 July 2023, we have increased the maximum age of student dependants from 25 to 31.
What is a dependant?
A child dependant is someone who is under the age of 18 and is not married or in a de facto relationship and is the natural, adopted or foster dependant of the policy holder. There are varying premiums for dependants depending on the cover you have. This person is covered under the family’s health cover at no extra cost.
A non-classified dependant is someone who is aged between 18 and 20, is not married or in a de facto relationship and is the natural, adopted or foster dependant of the policy holder. This person is covered under the family’s health cover at no extra cost.
A student dependant is a full-time student, single (not married or in a de facto relationship), aged between 21 and 30 and is the natural, adopted or foster dependant of the policy holder. This person is covered under the family’s health cover at no extra cost.
A non-student dependant is someone aged between 21 and 31, single (not married or in a de facto relationship), not studying full-time and is the natural, adopted or foster dependant of the policy holder. They can be added to your family’s cover for an additional fee determined by us.
Dependants get a good amount of time under your cover before they need to sort out their own. A dependant can remain on your cover up until the day prior to turning 31 (providing they are not married or in a de facto relationship). Once the dependant turns 31, they may wish to get their own private health insurance and avoid paying Lifetime Health Cover (LHC). It's important there is no gap between coming off their family’s policy and taking out their own cover to avoid serving waiting periods again.
Call us on 13 16 42 to change the status of dependants on your policy e.g. from a child dependant to a student dependant.
An apprenticeship counts as employment so they’ll need to be added as a non-student dependant.
If you are a student dependant who is studying full-time, aged between 21 to 31, single (not married or in a de facto relationship), you must come off your family’s policy once you turn 31. A dependant can stay on their family’s policy up to the age of 31, as a non-student dependant if they have finished their full-time studies.
If you no longer qualify as a dependant, you will need to move off your family’s cover and onto your own health cover. To make sure you don’t have to re-serve any waiting periods, you'll need to get health cover that is equal to or lesser than your family’s health cover.
If you have a break between coming off your family's cover and getting your own, you might have to re-serve waiting periods. To avoid that, get your own nib health cover organised within 30 days of coming off your family’s cover. You'll need to make sure it's backdated (and the difference paid for) to start when you came off your family’s cover.
If you don’t take out private hospital cover before 1 July after you turn 31, you’ll pay a 2% Lifetime Health Cover Loading (LHC) on top of your normal hospital premium for each year you don’t have hospital cover (up to a maximum of 70%). LHC is a Government initiative aimed at encouraging people to take out private hospital cover earlier in life, and maintain it. Learn more about LHC.
If you're switching to your own nib health cover from a different health insurer, you'll have 59 days to join without affecting your continuity of cover.
Get your bank details, Medicare card and the name of your family's health fund (if it isn’t nib, of course!) and join online today.
