Health insurance funds often promote accident cover to young customers, but these policies can be so-called junk health insurance that cover only a small number of treatments and come with restrictions.

In this article, we take a look at:

• Do you need accident cover?
• Do you need ambulance cover?
• Ambulance cover with your health insurance
• Ambulance service subscriptions
• Ambulance-only health insurance
• Ambulance subscription vs ambulance-only insurance
• What's the best value cover for accidents?
• Recommended hospital policies for accidents and emergencies

Do you need accident cover?

Even without private insurance, you don't need to worry about copping a bill for tens of thousands of dollars if you get hit by a bus or need your appendix out. Medicare covers emergency care in a public hospital.

However, you may want cover in a private hospital for ongoing treatments associated with having an accident, or cover for ambulance transportation.

Top hospital insurance will have you covered for all this, but other options are accident cover and ambulance-only cover. These are cheaper options, but they may not be good value.

Do you need ambulance cover?

A trip to hospital in an ambulance can easily cost around $1000 depending on how far away you are from the nearest hospital. 

If it's just ambulance cover you're concerned about, you may find you're already covered by your state government, or that a state subscription service might offer better value. Your options depend upon where you live.  

• Residents of Tasmania and Queensland have their ambulance trips covered by their state governments. (Tasmanian residents are currently not covered for ambulance if they travel in QLD and SA while Queensland residents are covered in all states)
• Residents of NSW, the ACT and the Perth metro area (including Fremantle and Armadale) need health insurance if you want to be covered for ambulance.
• Residents of the Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and rural WA can either get ambulance cover in their health insurance or through a state ambulance subscription.

Are ambulance subscriptions the best option?

• Ambulance subscriptions are only available in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and rural WA.
• Ambulance subscriptions usually don't have the kind of restrictions ambulance health cover does. 
• Extras insurance may offer a refund for an ambulance service subscription – depending on the policy you may be entitled to a 60% refund, for example.
• There's no government rebate on state ambulance subscriptions, but even without the rebate a subscription may still be better value than, say, ambulance-only health insurance policies.
• Pensioners and concession card-holders may get free ambulance cover.

Note: Some ambulance services give discounts for subscriptions of two or more years.

What cover do you need for accidents and emergencies?

Quality private hospital policies will cover emergency ambulance, as well as thousands of services in a public and private hospital for both accident-related treatments (e.g. for a broken leg, burns, cuts or a concussion) and non-accident-related treatments (e.g. cancer screening and surgery, gallstone surgery, flu and asthma).

In the following table is our pick of the best basic hospital policies with accident cover. They all include cover for:

• Rehabilitation Rehabilitative services in a public hospital are good but can be overcrowded. Private hospital cover gives you greater access and flexibility of where and when you have your treatment. 
• Plastic surgery (non-cosmetic) This includes reconstructive surgery for medical reasons after an accident. (Note that cosmetic surgery isn't covered by Medicare or private health insurance.) Public hospital services are good for reconstructive plastic surgery (such as for burns), but waiting lists are up to five months. Also, plastic surgery is more readily available in the private system, and you might prefer a plastic surgeon over a general surgeon for some procedures to reduce the risk of scarring.
• Palliative care Covers services designed to help people with a life-limiting or terminal injury or illness live life as comfortably as possible. Can include home nursing and equipment hire. Public hospitals, and community services and facilities also offer good palliative care and are often fully funded by Medicare. Choose private hospital cover for palliative care if you'd prefer the comforts and setting of a private hospital.
• Major heart surgery: Heart disease (also called cardiovascular disease) is the leading cause of death in Australia and includes life-threatening conditions such as heart attack and stroke. Urgent heart surgery, such as for heart attacks, can be treated quickly in public hospitals, but you can encounter waiting lists of up to three months for other treatments such as stent procedures, valve replacements and pacemaker implants.

Read on for our recommended policies for accidents and emergencies.