Medibank scraps wait for mental health help

Medibank is boosting its offering for mental health services to expand on government reforms in the sector.

Medibank chief customer officer David Koczkar.

Australian insurance giant Medibank is boosting its offering for mental health services as government reforms are introduced across the sector.

From next month, insured Australians who upgrade their health policy to include mental health services will not have to endure a waiting period before accessing in-hospital treatment under the reforms.

Medibank chief customer officer David Koczkar said the insurer had decided to go a step further than the reforms and also remove the two-month waiting period on psychology services on its current extras products.

“We understand that mental health is a significant public health issue and has large economic and social consequences,” Mr Koczkar told The Australian.

“If you had an extras product with Medibank you would have had to wait two months to be covered to access psychology services out of hospital but we will now waive that period.”

Medibank paid $179 million in benefits relating to mental health services in 2015-2016.

Psychiatry is the top claim for Medibank customers in their 20s, and is in the top five for all age groups.

“Over the last four years, our customers’ access to mental health services have grown by more than 30 per cent,” Mr Koczkar said.

“The research suggests that this will continue to grow, especially with our younger customers, and this is a critical reason why the reforms have taken place.”

Mr Koczkar said that from an affordability perspective, it would be more attractive for young people to take out cover than pay a large fee to access mental health services when needed.

He said people who accessed in-hospital mental heath services, without insurance for that treatment were generally hit with large out-of-pocket costs if they had to stay in a facility for days.

“They are being charged a significant amount of money. The reforms and our changes enable us to put people on a cover that means we pick up the tab and they mostly avoid out-of-pockets,” Mr Koczkar said.

“From an affordability perspective, in most cases it’s a better option to upgrade to a policy that covers them.”

One in five Australians experience a mental health condition in a given year, and almost one in two will experience a mental health condition at some point in their life.

Mr Koczkar said the improvements to in-hospital services under the reforms meant support could be accessed immediately when conditions, such as depression and anxiety, arose.