Hearing aids: extras cover vs the Hearing Services Program

Australians who need a hearing aid have two very different ways to pay for it. The government’s Hearing Services Program gives eligible people a device at no cost. Extras cover, the general treatment part of private health insurance, pays a capped share of what you spend yourself. This page sets the two side by side in dollars, with the rules and figures as published on 8 November 2026.

Does private health insurance cover hearing aids in Australia?

Partly, and through extras cover. On every Private Health Information Statement read for this page, hearing aids sit in the general treatment (extras) section as an item, like glasses or a blood glucose monitor, and each Private Health Information Statement sets four things: the waiting period, the benefit, the limit and how often you can claim.

The benefit is usually a share of the charge, such as 75% or 90%, up to a dollar cap. Some policies pay a fixed amount instead. On the six policy statements read on PrivateHealth.gov.au on 8 November 2026, the cap for a hearing aid ran from A$400 to A$1,200, and the waiting period from 12 months to 36 months. Bought privately, CHOICE puts one hearing aid at A$900 to A$4,200 or more, depending on the technology level (buying guide last updated 5 March 2024).

So extras cover pays part of the cost of a privately bought hearing aid, never the whole of a mid-range or premium one. It pays nothing on a device that costs you nothing. That is why the government program comes first for anyone who qualifies for it.

Who gets free hearing aids through the Hearing Services Program?

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing runs the Hearing Services Program. Its voucher scheme covers Australian citizens and permanent residents, and residents of Norfolk Island, who are aged 21 or over and are one of the following:

• a Pensioner Concession Card holder, or their spouse
• a Veteran Gold Card holder, or their spouse
• a Veteran White Card holder for hearing-specific conditions, or their spouse
• a member of the Australian Defence Force, including reserves in continuous full-time service
• a person referred by an Inclusive Employment Australia provider.

A second stream, the Community Service Obligations, is delivered by Hearing Australia. It covers people under 26, some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 or over, and voucher-eligible people who live remotely or need specialist services.

The program is large. The Department reports 446,226 devices fitted and 834,048 people supported in 2024–25 (figures effective 24 July 2025). Its 2025–26 report shows 452,995 devices fitted, 850,739 clients serviced and 139,523 new vouchers issued (figures effective 9 July 2026). A voucher is valid for 5 years. Veterans may get extra help from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and NDIS participants use the program for hearing support.

Why a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card does not get you free hearing aids

This is the most common mistake. Many older Australians hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and assume it works like a pension card. For the Hearing Services Program it does not. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s eligibility page, last updated 23 December 2025, states it plainly: “A Commonwealth Seniors Health Card does not provide eligibility for the program.”

The practical result is a large price gap between two people of the same age. A pensioner with a Pensioner Concession Card can be fitted with a fully subsidised hearing aid at no cost. A self-funded retiree with only a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card pays the full price. On CHOICE’s per-aid ranges, last updated 5 March 2024, two standard-level hearing aids cost about A$2,800 to A$5,200 for the pair.

That price gap is where extras cover can matter. For a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder in Australia, an extras policy that pays toward hearing aids may be the main help available, subject to its waiting period and limit. Health insurance for self-funded retirees looks at the wider choice for this group.

What does the Hearing Services Program cost you?

For most people on the voucher scheme in Australia, very little. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says your provider “must offer you” a fully subsidised hearing device “as an option, at no cost to you”, and that fully and partially subsidised devices are “equally effective at amplifying sound.”

The costs that can apply are set out below, from the Department’s pages and its client information booklet of 1 May 2026.

Sources: health.gov.au devices and voucher services pages; client information booklet, 1 May 2026. Last verified 8 November 2026.

The Department’s pages give these fees as “about” and “around” amounts. The 2026–27 schedule of fees instrument, in force from 1 July 2026, sets them, but its text read on 8 November 2026 refers to a schedule that was not part of the published text. The Department warns that the gap on a top-up device “can be substantial”, and the provider must give a written quote showing the subsidy.

How much do extras policies pay toward a hearing aid?

The table below sets out six extras policies open to new members, read from their Private Health Information Statements on PrivateHealth.gov.au on 8 November 2026. They are examples of how policies differ, listed by insurer, not a ranking or a recommendation, and each applies only in the state and to the cover type shown.

Source: each policy’s Private Health Information Statement on PrivateHealth.gov.au. Last verified 8 November 2026.

Three of these limits apply per policy and three per person, which matters on a couple’s policy. Some figures quoted elsewhere online for the same products are undated and differ from these statements. The statement in force is the one that counts.

What does a percentage benefit pay in dollars?

A benefit written as a percentage only means something once the cap is applied. The table works out what each of the six policies would pay toward one hearing aid at three example charges per aid. The charges are examples chosen to show the arithmetic, not prices for any device.

Plain Cover arithmetic on the PrivateHealth.gov.au statements read 8 November 2026. Last verified 8 November 2026.

On a A$3,000 premium-level aid, every one of the six policies stops at its cap, and the member pays between A$1,800 and A$2,600 of that aid in Australia. The percentage only decides the benefit on cheaper devices. On dearer ones, the dollar cap is the whole story.

How long is the waiting period for hearing aids on extras cover?

On the six statements read on 8 November 2026, the hearing aid waiting period was 12 months on Bupa Top Extras 90 and HCF Top Extras, and 36 months on both Medibank policies and both nib-underwritten policies. That is a three-fold difference between policies sold in Australia in the same month.

The claiming cycle differs as well. Bupa and HCF allow one hearing aid or service every 3 years. Medibank allows one appliance every 5 years. The Suncorp and Apia policies allow two appliances every 5 years. Medibank’s own claiming guide confirms a replacement can be claimed every 5 years.

The waiting period starts when you join or upgrade, and the premium is due from day one. A person who joins a 36-month policy in November 2026 cannot claim for a hearing aid until November 2029. PrivateHealth.gov.au says a move to a policy at the same or a lower level of benefit carries served waiting periods across, while new or higher benefits carry a new wait. Do you re-serve waiting periods when you switch? covers those rules.

Does extras cover pay for two hearing aids, or just one?

Often just one per claiming period. Most people with hearing loss in both ears need two devices, but four of the six statements read on 8 November 2026 allow only one hearing aid, appliance or service per period: Bupa Top Extras 90 and HCF Top Extras every 3 years, and both Medibank policies every 5 years. The Suncorp and Apia policies, both underwritten by nib, allow two appliances every 5 years.

On a one-device policy, the dollar limit is all you get for the pair. Take a pair of standard-level aids at A$2,000 each, an example charge within CHOICE’s range. Medibank Comprehensive Extras pays at most A$400 toward the A$4,000 pair. Suncorp Top Extras, with two appliances allowed but a A$1,200 per person limit, pays at most A$1,200.

HCF’s statement says “1 service(s) every 3 years” without saying whether a fitted pair counts as one service. A member in Australia planning to claim for two aids can ask the fund, before buying, how it would pay on a pair, and keep the answer in writing.

Can extras cover pay the gap on a top-up hearing aid from the program?

Yes, that is the one place the two routes meet. A person on the Hearing Services Program voucher can choose a partially subsidised device. The program pays what a fully subsidised device would have cost, and the person pays the rest. The Department’s client information booklet of 1 May 2026 says private health insurance “might help cover some of the gap”, and suggests contacting your health fund before choosing a device.

Extras cover cannot add anything to a fully subsidised device. Every benefit in the table above is a share of the charge or capped at it, and a fully subsidised device carries no charge to the client.

So for a pensioner who is happy with a fully subsidised hearing aid, extras cover adds nothing for the device itself. It may still pay for the gap on a top-up model, or for services the program leaves out. The Department adds that you can ask other providers for quotes before choosing a partially subsidised device.

Is extras cover worth buying just for a hearing aid?

Usually not, on the numbers. A waiting period means premiums are paid for months or years before the first hearing aid claim. The table sets the premiums paid during the wait against the most the policy can pay for one aid, using the ATO’s 2026–27 base-tier rebate: 24.118% under 65 and 32.158% at 70 and over.

Plain Cover arithmetic on the statements and ATO rates read 8 November 2026. Last verified 8 November 2026.

Worked example for the Medibank row: A$77.90 times 12 is A$934.80 a year. After the 32.158% rebate, A$934.80 times 0.67842 is A$634.19 a year, and three years is A$1,902.56, for a hearing aid benefit of at most A$400. For someone under 65 on the base tier, the same three years cost A$2,128.03.

This is general information, not advice about anyone’s circumstances. These policies also pay for dental, optical and other extras, so the premium buys more than a hearing aid. But a person in Australia buying extras mainly for hearing aids will typically pay more in premiums during the wait than the policy returns for the device. In 2025–26 the under-65 base-tier rebate was 24.288% until 31 March 2026, so these sums were slightly lower before then. PrivateHealth.gov.au confirms the rebate applies to general treatment policies.

How do you claim a hearing aid on extras cover?

You pay the provider, then claim the benefit from your fund, unless the provider claims on the spot. Medibank’s claiming guide, read 8 November 2026, says a hearing aid claim needs a dated, itemised receipt or invoice showing the provider’s ID or ABN and a description of the item, dated within the last two years. Hearing Australia says that if your private health insurance covers hearing aids, it will provide an invoice so you can claim directly with your fund.

Three checks before buying save trouble for an Australian member:

1. The waiting period has been served. A claim inside the wait pays nothing.
2. The claiming cycle has reset. A second aid inside a 3 or 5 year period may not be paid.
3. The limit has room. On Bupa Top Extras 90, the A$850 hearing aid sub-limit sits inside a A$1,200 yearly health appliances limit shared with blood glucose monitors and orthotics.

The fund reviews for Medibank, HCF and nib set out each insurer’s other extras rules. The rebate tiers for 2026–27 show how much of an extras premium the government pays at each income and age.