FAQs

Health fund members in Australia are guaranteed 'portability' of cover by law. So you can swap from one health fund to another without having to re-serve waiting periods you've already served with your current fund.

We'll recognise any waiting periods (or portions of waiting periods) you’ve already served if you join us within two calendar months of leaving your previous health fund.

The only time waiting periods apply when you transfer to rt from another fund is when your rt cover offers a higher level of benefits than your previous cover. In this case, you’ll be entitled to the same level of benefits as you had under your previous cover until you’ve served the waiting period for the higher level of benefits.

It’s surprisingly easy, and you don’t even have to deal with your old fund, we can take care of that for you. There are forms to be filled in, but we offer you a choice of ways to get that done.

•              Join online – Complete our step by step guide to make it easier for you.

•              Call us on 1300 886 123 – our member care team can help you complete your form over the phone.

We have agreements in place with almost every private hospital and day surgery in Australia, and when you are treated as an inpatient in any of these you will be covered for 100% of your hospital costs.

Look up which hospitals we have contracts with.

Yes, all of our hospital covers come with automatic Access Gap cover, which can help you to reduce or avoid out-of-pocket medical fees when you go into hospital.

Here's how it works: when you are treated as an inpatient in hospital your doctor's fees are split between Medicare and your private hospital cover. Medicare reimburses you for 75% of the MBS (Medicare Benefits Schedule) fee and your hospital cover pays the remaining 25%. Out-of-pocket costs can arise because doctors are not restricted to only charging the MBS fee. Any amount your doctor charges above the MBS fee is not covered by Medicare or your hospital cover.

Access Gap cover can help you to reduce or eliminate your out-of-pocket costs by making certain arrangements with your doctors before you go into hospital. The way it works is that you ask your doctors if they will participate in rt’s Access Gap cover at the time you are making arrangements for your hospital stay. If your doctors agree, it means they are willing to accept a set fee for their services that is more than the MBS fee, but probably less than what they might otherwise charge. This means you are likely to have lower out-of-pocket costs, or in some cases, none at all. You can ask any of your treating doctors if they are willing to participate in Access Gap cover, and they are free to do so or not on a case-by-case basis.

Look up which doctors currently participate in our Access Gap cover.