Member info

Your card will arrive within 10 days of the date of your application, even if your policy doesn't start right away.

Each of our cover options has different levels of cover depending on who is included in the policy.

Here is a summary of who is covered under each policy type.

^Dependents aged up to 21 and including 31 who aren’t full-time students or apprentices and do not have a partner can be covered under Extended Family Cover, which attracts an additional cost.

If you’re heading out of the country for more than four weeks, but less than two years, have a chat to us about whether or not you’re eligible to apply for a suspension to your membership.

Suspending your membership means you’ll be able to put your payments on hold while you’re out of the country. We’ll still recognise you as a Member and honour all of the waiting periods you’ve served, and once you come back you can pick up right where you left off.

When travelling overseas and applying to suspend your policy the only information you will now be required to submit to us with your suspension application is a copy of your travel itinerary. This itinerary should specify your departure date and your intended return date to Australia. What this change will also allow us to do is automatically reactivate your policy upon your return to Australia without you doing anything further. That’s right no more boarding passes or passport copies for you to have to organise on your return home!

Now we also know money can be tight after a return from an overseas holiday so to ensure your policy reactivation can automatically take effect on your return date to Australia, we will now require you to be paid a minimum of one month in advance from the date of your policy suspension. This way you can come home and not have to immediately find the money to kick-start your health cover. A minimum period of 6 months must be served between reactivation and suspension for overseas travel.

While your membership is suspended, you won’t be able to make any claims, but once your payments recommence, you’ll be good to go!

Whether your trip is a short one or a long one, your health insurance won't cover you for injury, treatment or surgery while you're overseas, so don’t forget to approach your preferred insurer about travel insurance to cover you while you’re away. Travel insurance will cover any medical expenses that may crop up during your travels.

To find out more about suspending your membership, contact us when you’re making your travel plans.

Your Membership Year is the anniversary date of when you first joined Queensland Country.

Your yearly limits and excesses are calculated from this date, and reset each year on that date.

So, if you first signed up with us on October 25, your limits and excess will reset each year on October 25.

We're a little different from some other health funds. Your yearly limits reset each year on your anniversary date - the date you first joined our health fund.

This applies to benefit limits and excesses.

If your payments aren't up to date, we won't be able to pay any claims for treatments or services.

Please note that it is the policy holder’s responsibility to make sure that payment amounts are correct and are paid in advance, to avoid any claims being rejected due to having an unfinancial status.

If you're experiencing financial difficulty, please contact us on 1800 813 415 to discuss your options.

Yes. If you'd like to change the way you pay your premiums or the frequency, call us on 1800 813 415 to update your payment method.

You can choose to pay weekly, fortnightly, monthly, six monthly or yearly, as long as you're paid up in advance if you switch your payment frequency. There’s no hidden fees for paying more or less frequently – the overall premium price will be exactly the same, regardless of weekly or yearly payments. If you switch to paying quarterly, six monthly or yearly, we’ll send you a reminder notice as a courtesy.

You can pay by credit card, direct debit or BPAY.

Credit card

You can make an immediate payment by credit card through our Mobile App or Online Member Service Portal.  Alternative you can call 1800 813 415 and speak to one of our friendly staff to arrange payment over the phone. 

We also have EFTPOS machines for immediate payment located at Aitkenvale in Townsville, Mount Isa, Ayr, Earlville in Cairns and Caneland Central Mackay.

Direct debit

Direct debit facilities are available if you'd prefer to have your payment amount automatically deducted from an account or credit card. If you’d like to set up a direct debit, you can do this via our Mobile App or Online Member Services or you can contact our friendly team who can update your membership. 

BPAY

The BPAY biller code and your reference number appears on all statements. If you don’t receive regular statements (for example, if you pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly), just give us a call or email and we’ll be happy to supply you with our biller code and your reference number. You can also set up recurring BPAY payments so you never have to worry about missing a payment – just ask your financial institution.

Online Member Services (OMS) our online self-service portal which gives you control over your policy, allowing you to update your details, view your benefits and make payments by credit card.

If you don't have access yet, you can register and login straight away.

Online Member Services (OMS) gives you control over your policy. Normally, you’d need to call us to make changes to your details or policy, but with OMS, you simply need to login (or register) to access everything you need.

Here's what you can do in OMS:

• Update your personal details
• Make a credit card payment
• Access tax statements
• View your claims history
• View your limits and remaining benefits
• Update payment details
• Add student or apprentice dependents
• Add Medicare card details

Login or register.

The best way to add or remove a person from your membership is to give us a call. If you're adding a person, they may need to serve waiting periods for benefits, depending on their previous health insurance history.

We'll make sure you continue to have the best level of cover for your needs if you make any changes to your policy.

Singles and Couples (also previously known as Smart Start) (Basic+), Top Hospital (Gold), Comprehensive Hospital (Gold), Intermediate Hospital (Basic+), Value Hospital (Basic+) and Public Hospital (Basic+) Covers are no longer sold as a new product. If you've already got one of these policies there's no change, and we'll still honour all of the conditions, inclusions and benefits you enjoy on the policy.

However, if you're on a different level of cover and wanted to change to this one, or already hold it and wanted to recommend it to a friend, this policy type is no longer available.

If you're on one of our lower or medium levels of cover, you can choose to upgrade at any time by contacting us on 1800 813 415.

Upgrading could include:

• Increasing the level of cover - for example, going from Vital Hospital (Bronze+) to Better Hospital (Silver+)
• Adding a new cover - for example, adding extras cover
• Reducing your excess - that is, going from $500 excess to $250

If you're upgrading, you may need to serve waiting periods on the upgraded portion of your cover. While you're waiting, we'll still honour the benefits of your previous cover. Conditions also apply to hospitalisation if you're changing your excess.

If things are a bit tight financially, or if you want to change to a level of cover that's more practical, you can choose to downgrade your cover.

Downgrading may include:

• Reducing the level of cover - for example, going from Better Hospital (Silver+) to Vital Hospital (Bronze+) Cover
• Removing a current cover - for example, dropping extras cover
• Increasing your excess - going from a $250 to $500 excess

If you choose to downgrade, you won't need to serve additional waiting periods, and your new excess applies to inpatient hospital services immediately.

In the unfortunate case that you and your partner have separated, there are a few options available.

We can separate your policy where one partner, usually the primary policy holder, keeps the same Member number but we change it to a single policy or single parent policy. We then create a new policy for the other partner, and they can keep the same level of cover (even if it's a closed product). Your dependents can be covered under one policy or both, but please be aware that it's fraudulent to claim for the same treatment under both policies. One service can only have benefits paid from one policy and funds will be recovered if it is found that a service has already received benefit entitlements elsewhere.

If the separation is amicable, some people choose to stay on the same policy, especially where there are dependents involved.

It's best to give us a call on 1800 813 415 to discuss your policy.