Latrobe Health Services today introduced an initial support package of $8M to assist its members through the escalating health and economic Coronavirus crisis.
Recognising everyone in the community may be experiencing some financial hardship as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, Latrobe Health has delayed its premium increase and announced a range of support packages available to its members.
Latrobe Health Chief Executive Officer Ian Whitehead also confirmed that all members with a hospital policy will be covered for Coronavirus-related claims, irrespective of the level of hospital cover they have.
“We’re all in totally unchartered waters, and our first round of announcements are relief measures that our members need right now, such as knowing they’re covered for Coronavirus-related hospitalisation, and that we will waive waits and excesses for Coronavirus-related admissions to hospital,” Mr Whitehead said.
“The annual premium increase has been delayed for six months in a bid to provide some financial relief for our 84,000 members who trust us with their private health insurance cover.
“This crisis also presents an opportunity for us to innovate with enabling online service delivery (telehealth) to be covered. It’s likely our expectations of accessing services online will increase beyond the Coronavirus crisis. We’re working through this with our industry bodies and the allied health industry to look at expanding the services our members can access online.
“Right now the focus is on alleviating the pressure on our members. Next on our agenda is working through extra supports that the community needs, now and into the recovery of the crisis,” Mr Whitehead said.
More information:
Latrobe Health has announced its initial support packages will include:
- All Coronavirus-related hospital admissions for chest, heart, lung and kidney will be included in members’ hospital covers until 1 October 2020, irrespective of level of cover.
- Excesses and waiting periods have been waived for Coronavirus-related hospital admissions.
- Coronavirus-specific hardship conditions have been developed to support our members.
- Psychology services can be received via telehealth.
- Maryvale Private Hospital, which Latrobe Health solely owns, has been made available to support the community and public hospital system in the fight against Coronavirus throughout the crisis.