What is health insurance in Australia?
Medical insurance allows the tourist to receive medical care free of charge.* Standard travel insurance includes the following risks:
Outpatient and inpatient treatment
Emergency Dental Care
Reimbursement for medicines prescribed by a doctor
Call an ambulance
Transportation to Russia in case of severe illness
*Provided that the sum insured covers the cost of treatment. The sum insured is the amount within which treatment will be carried out if you suddenly fall ill.

Cost of travel insurance for Australia
The basic cost of insurance is determined by the insurance company itself, based on the standard of living in the country, the cost of medical services, the crime rate and many other factors. Moreover, the higher the average cost of medical services, the more expensive the insurance will be.
After that, several parameters you choose are added to the cost of insurance, such as the duration of the trip, additional services, the presence / absence of a deductible and the amount insured. The larger the sum insured, the more expensive the treatment will be covered by the insurance. Also, the price of insurance is affected by the age of the tourist and chronic diseases (if any).
Considering all these factors and the periodic decrease or increase in the basic cost of insurance, depending on the improvement or deterioration of the country’s situation, the average cost of insurance in Australia is extremely “average”. So, for one person it can cost 12-15 * euros, and for another 25-30 * for the same duration of the trip. Moreover, its cost can change even for the same person, in the event of a rise in the cost of medical services or a sharp increase in the level of crime. Thus, when calculating the average cost, the error can be ± 50%.

Do you need insurance in Australia?
Australia is a country with a high standard of living index, a thriving economy and a low crime rate, but a high standard of living also affects the cost of medical services. If special tariffs or preferential insurance are provided for citizens of this country, then the tourist has to pay in full.
The quality of medical services in Australia is not inferior to European (and in many ways even superior), which also affects their value. One day in the ward of a private clinic can cost several hundred euros, and even an ambulance call can be paid, the cost of which depends on the specific city and clinic.
The average cost of a two-week travel insurance to Australia costs several tens of euros, while the cost of calling an ambulance alone can exceed this amount by several times. When deciding whether the game is worth the candle, remember that if expensive medical care is provided to a tourist who does not have insurance, then he and his family will have to pay the entire cost of treatment upon their return to Russia.

How to choose travel insurance for Australia?
When buying insurance, you need to pay attention to the following characteristics:
The sum insured when traveling to any country should be calculated based on the average cost of medical services. The more expensive the doctor’s appointment or one day in the clinic’s ward costs a tourist, the greater the sum insured should be chosen. So, for example, when traveling to India or Cuba, you can stay on the amount of 30 thousand dollars, but in Australia this money may not be enough.
In addition, medical insurance to Australia with an insurance amount of $100,000 will cost only 50-60% more than insurance with $30,000, and not 300%, as one might expect. The fact is that the larger the sum insured you set, the cheaper one insured thousand dollars is in relation to one euro of the cost of insurance. For example, if insurance for 30,000 dollars costs 15 euros, then it turns out that for one euro you can get 2,000 dollars in compensation. If this insurance amount is increased to 100,000 dollars, then the insurance will cost 7-10 euros more, but for one euro you can get not two, but 5,000 dollars. Thus, the total cost of insurance increases by 50-60%, and the cost of the sum insured decreases by 240-250%.

The insurance company not only sells the policy, but also makes payments in the event of an insured event, so its solvency, history of insurance payments and reliability can be considered the main criteria that you should pay attention to when buying insurance.
The following companies are recognized as one of the largest Russian insurers with the highest percentage of payments:
Alliance
Rosgosstrakh
Ingosstrakh
reso-guarantee
Renaissance insurance
The assistance company acts as an intermediary between the insurance company, the clinic and the tourist. It is the assistant who will advise the tourist by phone, agree on treatment at the nearest clinic, coordinate the actions of the clinic and the insurance company for the fastest possible receipt and timely payment of medical services. The outcome of the insured event largely depends on the professionalism of the operators of the assistance company, because the faster and more smoothly they work, the faster the tourist will be provided with all the necessary assistance. Some of the most professional operators are employees of the following assistance companies:
International SOS (ISOS)
Mondial Assistance (Mondial)
Class assistance (Class)
Europe Assistance
Global Voyager Assistance
The deductible significantly reduces the cost of the policy, however, when contacting the clinic, the insurance company will pay for the treatment minus the amount of the deductible. That is, if you apply for a franchise for $ 200 (the average amount of a franchise when traveling abroad), then this is how much you will have to pay when an insured event occurs, and all other expenses will be covered by the insurance company.
Payment method. Insurance companies pay for treatment in two ways: compensation payment and service payment.
The compensation payment assumes 100% payment for the treatment by the tourist himself, and after returning it fully compensates for its cost. After returning from a trip, you must contact the office of the insurance company within 30 days and provide all the certificates and invoices received during the treatment, and a few days later come to the company’s office to receive compensation.
Service payment allows you to receive medical care for free by simply providing your doctor with your travel insurance to Australia, however, sending a request to the insurance company and waiting for confirmation of payment may take some time.
Also, insurance companies can provide the tourist with the opportunity to independently choose the method of payment in each case.
Additional services can make life easier for a tourist in trouble abroad. Самыми востребованными и популярными услугами являются: помощь юриста, услуги переводчика, insurance багажа и insurance отмены поездки. Prices for such services are quite affordable and do not greatly affect the cost of the policy, but In this case, in an emergency, they are able to protect both the financial and civil law interests of the tourist.
Активный отдых можно было бы отнести к дополнительным услугам, так как он включается в страховой договор по желанию клиента, однако insurance активного отдыха стоит особенно выделить. None of the standard Australian travel insurance will cover medical treatment if you are injured while playing a potentially life threatening sport (recreation). Moreover, the term “dangerous” includes running, bowling, fishing, skateboarding or rollerblading, and even volleyball. Поэтому insurance экстремального отдыха стоит включать не только тем, кто планирует заниматься глубоководным дайвингом или скалолазанием, но и тем, кто собирается хоть как-то проявлять физическую активность. Otherwise, you risk being denied payment for treatment.