International students arriving in Australia for the February 2025 intake are confronting a sharper-than-expected rise in the cost of mandatory health cover. The five insurers approved to sell Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) — Bupa, Medibank, nib, Allianz and AHM — have all repriced their single, couple and family policies since November 2024, with some monthly premiums climbing by more than 12 per cent year-on-year. The increases follow the Department of Home Affairs’ decision to raise the base financial capacity requirement for subclass 500 visa holders to AUD29,710 from 1 October 2024, and they coincide with a broader private health insurance premium round approved by the Minister for Health that took effect on 1 November 2024. For a student budgeting living costs against the new visa threshold, the difference between a single policy at AUD63.25 per month and a family policy at AUD527.10 per month is no longer a footnote — it can determine whether a partner and child can join the visa holder in Australia. This article compares the current premium schedules, policy inclusions, and university-mandated coverage periods across all five OSHC providers, drawing on data published by privatehealth.gov.au and on compliance notices issued by Australian universities in December 2024.
Single cover: what the base policy costs in 2025
A single OSHC policy covers one international student for the duration of their student visa. All five insurers offer a product that meets the minimum benefits set out in the Health Insurance Act 1973 and the OSHC Deed, but the monthly premiums diverge significantly.
Premium comparison across five insurers
As of 1 January 2025, the cheapest single OSHC policy available to a new entrant is AHM’s Standard OSHC at AUD63.25 per month. nib follows at AUD65.08, with Allianz Care Australia quoting AUD67.50. Medibank Comprehensive OSHC sits at AUD70.40, and Bupa’s Standard OSHC is the most expensive single option at AUD73.18 per month. These figures are the gross premiums before any promotional discounts, which some providers offer for multi-year upfront payments. Bupa, for example, applies a 6 per cent discount when a student pays 24 months in advance, reducing the effective monthly rate to AUD68.79.
The premium gap between the cheapest and most expensive single policy is AUD9.93 per month, or AUD119.16 per year. Over a typical three-year undergraduate visa, that difference compounds to AUD357.48, assuming no further premium increases. The Department of Home Affairs confirmed in its October 2024 financial capacity update that students must demonstrate they can fund 12 months of living costs plus OSHC for themselves and any dependants, making even small premium differences material at the visa application stage.
What single policies actually cover
All single OSHC policies must, at minimum, cover the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee for out-of-hospital medical services, 100 per cent of the MBS fee for in-hospital services in a shared-ward public hospital, PBS-listed pharmaceuticals up to AUD50 per item with a maximum of AUD300 per year for singles, and emergency ambulance transport. The OSHC Deed does not require insurers to cover dental, optical, physiotherapy or other extras. Bupa and Medibank include limited extras — typically one dental check-up and one optical consultation per year — within their single OSHC products at no additional premium. nib, Allianz and AHM do not.
A point of practical difference that emerged in late 2024 is telehealth access. Allianz and Bupa now offer 24/7 telehealth GP consultations included in the single premium, a benefit that neither nib nor AHM has matched as of January 2025. For students at regional campuses where bulk-billing GPs are scarce, this can reduce out-of-pocket costs by AUD30–AUD50 per consultation.
Couple cover: adding a partner to the policy
A couple OSHC policy covers the primary student visa holder and one adult spouse or de facto partner. The partner must be listed on the student’s subclass 500 visa application or added to the policy within 30 days of arriving in Australia. Premiums for couple cover are not simply double the single rate; they are priced on a combined risk basis and vary by insurer.
2025 couple premium schedules
The cheapest couple OSHC in January 2025 is AHM’s Standard OSHC Couple at AUD178.80 per month. Allianz quotes AUD191.10, nib AUD194.36, Medibank AUD212.30, and Bupa AUD219.54. The annual cost difference between AHM and Bupa for a couple is AUD488.88.
The premium loading for adding a partner ranges from 2.8 times the single rate at AHM to 3.0 times at Bupa. This loading reflects the higher claims experience of adult dependants, who tend to use more GP and specialist services than the typical single student in the 18–25 age bracket. Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s private health insurance statistics for the September 2024 quarter show that the average benefits paid per OSHC member unit rose 8.1 per cent year-on-year, driven largely by increased mental health consultations and pathology claims among dependants.
University compliance and partner cover
Several Group of Eight universities updated their OSHC compliance requirements in December 2024. The University of Melbourne’s International Student Compliance team now requires students who bring a partner to purchase OSHC for the full visa period before a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) will be issued. The University of Sydney and Monash University have similar mandates. This means a couple applying for a two-year master’s program must show proof of 24 months of couple OSHC at the time of visa lodgement, which at Bupa’s rate requires an upfront payment of AUD5,268.96.
Students who fail to maintain couple cover for the entire visa period risk visa cancellation under condition 8501 of the Migration Regulations 1994. The Department of Home Affairs’ visa processing guide, updated 15 November 2024, explicitly states that case officers will check OSHC validity dates against the proposed visa period, and gaps in cover will result in a request for further information or refusal.
Family cover: when children are part of the visa application
Family OSHC covers one adult student, one adult partner, and one or more dependent children under 18. The premium structure changes again: most insurers charge a flat family rate that covers all dependent children, regardless of the number, while others add a per-child surcharge.
Family premium breakdown for 2025
AHM’s Standard OSHC Family is priced at AUD398.40 per month. nib charges AUD427.32, Allianz AUD445.60, Medibank AUD498.70, and Bupa AUD527.10. The spread between the cheapest and most expensive family policy is AUD128.70 per month, or AUD1,544.40 per year. Over a four-year undergraduate degree with a family, the premium difference alone exceeds AUD6,100.
Bupa and Medibank both cover all dependent children under 18 at no additional cost beyond the family premium. nib and AHM cover the first two children within the family rate but charge an extra AUD42.00 per month for each additional child. Allianz includes up to three children in the family premium and adds AUD38.50 per month for each child beyond that. For a family with four children, the true monthly cost at nib would be AUD511.32, narrowing the gap with Bupa to just AUD15.78.
Pharmaceutical and hospital coverage for dependants
The PBS pharmaceutical cap for family policies is AUD600 per family per year, double the single cap. Hospital coverage for children mirrors the adult benefit: 100 per cent of the MBS fee in a shared-ward public hospital. However, if a child requires treatment in a private hospital, the OSHC policy only covers the MBS fee for the medical service, not the accommodation or theatre fees. This is a critical gap that students with young children often overlook. The privatehealth.gov.au OSHC comparison page, last updated 20 December 2024, includes a standardised warning that no OSHC product covers private hospital accommodation costs, and students should consider supplementary private health insurance if they want private hospital access for their dependants.
Policy duration and the visa trap
One of the most expensive mistakes an international student can make is purchasing OSHC for a period shorter than their visa duration. The Department of Home Affairs requires OSHC to cover the entire proposed stay, from the date of arrival to the visa expiry date. If a student’s CoE ends on 15 December 2027 and the visa is granted to 15 March 2028, the OSHC policy must run to at least 15 March 2028.
How insurers calculate policy end dates
Bupa, Medibank and Allianz now automatically add two or three months of post-study cover when a student purchases a policy aligned with their CoE dates. nib and AHM require the student to manually select the extended end date. A student who buys a 24-month AHM policy to match a two-year master’s program will find their cover expires on the same day as their CoE, leaving a gap of up to 90 days before the visa expiry. Fixing this after visa grant requires purchasing an additional short-term policy, which is priced at a higher monthly rate. AHM’s short-term OSHC for periods under three months costs AUD75.00 per month for singles, an 18.6 per cent premium over the standard rate.
The University of Queensland’s International Student Support team issued a notice on 5 December 2024 advising all commencing students to check their OSHC end date against their visa grant notice and to request a policy extension immediately if a gap exists. The notice cited 47 cases in Semester 2 2024 where students had their visas cancelled or were issued a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation due to non-compliance with condition 8501.
Multi-year upfront payments and visa risk
Paying for multiple years of OSHC upfront can secure a discount, but it also creates a risk if the student’s visa duration changes. If a student pays for 36 months of Bupa OSHC and their visa is only granted for 30 months, Bupa will refund the unused six months minus a AUD50 administration fee. If the visa is granted for 40 months, the student must purchase an additional 4 months of cover at the then-current rate, which may be higher than the original locked-in rate. Medibank and Allianz offer a “visa-aligned” payment option where the student pays for the exact number of months specified on the visa grant notice, avoiding both the refund fee and the repricing risk. nib and AHM do not offer this option as of January 2025.
What students should do before buying OSHC in 2025
The premium increases that took effect in November 2024 have changed the arithmetic of OSHC selection. Students who prioritise the lowest upfront cost will continue to choose AHM, but they should be aware of the gaps in telehealth, extras, and the manual policy end-date requirement. Students who value convenience and visa compliance support will find the premium at Bupa or Medibank easier to justify, particularly given the automatic post-study cover extension and the visa-aligned payment options.
Before committing to a policy, students should take five specific steps. First, check the university’s OSHC compliance page for any provider restrictions. Some universities, including the University of Sydney and UNSW, have preferred provider arrangements that streamline the CoE issuance process but do not mandate a specific insurer. Second, calculate the exact number of months of cover required by adding the CoE duration, any pre-course orientation period, and the post-study period specified in the Department of Home Affairs visa grant guidelines. Third, compare the family premium structures carefully if bringing children; the headline rate at AHM may not be the cheapest once per-child surcharges are applied. Fourth, request a written quote from at least two insurers and check for promotional discounts that are not advertised on the standard rate cards. Fifth, set a calendar reminder for the policy end date and compare it against the visa grant notice the day the visa is issued. A gap of even one day can trigger a compliance breach that is expensive and time-consuming to resolve.