Health Funds

Health funds have assessors who determine the level of rebate for particular dental items. There is a balance between the rebate and the level of premium you pay, the type of cover and other factors such as waiting periods, annual limits and any promotional offers.

As a consumer, you choose the private health scheme that best suits your needs. A good site to consider when choosing which health fund best suits is http://www.iselect.com.au/ Most have fixed rebates for treatments irrespective of the actual fees charged. The rebates are generally not designed to provide full cover for dental fees or even a consistent percentage

In addition, most schemes do not include all treatment items. Some common treatments have no rebate at all

Remember,

• Your contract with the health fund is between you and the fund. It remains separate from the contract you have with dentists.
• There is no such thing as a ‘recognised fee’ or ‘schedule fee’ in dentistry and the ADA states categorically that any organisation that implies that their rebates are set to a percentage of a ‘schedule fee’ is misleading the public, regardless of whether it is an ‘internal’ schedule