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Health insurance for sports injuries

Not sure if you’re covered for sporting injuries? Our health insurance experts can let you know what you’re covered for and help you compare cover over the phone.

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Written by Joshua Malin

Reviewed by Steven Spicer

Updated 16 May 2024

Key takeaways

Anyone who regularly exercises will be more susceptible to injury. Many sport-related injuries are relatively minor, but some can pose more significant problems, especially if left untreated. So, let’s have a look at some of the ways health insurance can aid in your recovery for sporting injuries.

A health insurance policy could help with a range of medical costs for sport-related injuries, from inpatient hospital stays to out-of-hospital services like physiotherapy and remedial massages.
There are a few common injuries that make up the majority of sport-related hospitalisations. If you play a lot of sports, consider these injuries when deciding on an appropriate level of cover for your needs.
On top of health insurance, there are some other types of insurance that could come in handy for people who love playing sport.

Expert tips on choosing health insurance for sports injuries

Our health insurance expert, Steven Spicer, has some tips on how to find a policy that offers the peace of mind you need when playing your sport of choice.

Steven Spicer

Executive General Manager – Health, Life & Energy

Take your waiting periods into account

When you take out private health insurance or increase your level of coverage, there’s a good chance that you’ll need to wait before you can start claiming. That’s why it’s a good idea to ensure you have an appropriate level of cover in place and have served all relevant waiting periods in case you sustain an injury while playing sport.

Extras limits can vary greatly

Extras insurance can cover therapies like physiotherapy and remedial massage, which may be beneficial when recovering from a sports injury. The limits and rebates on therapies can vary significantly, so it’s a good idea to shop around if you’re thinking of claiming on these services.

Compare your options

Shop around and do your research. Prices vary from fund to fund and there are plenty of options to choose from. If you need assistance, speak to one of our experts, they are there to help!

Are sports injuries covered by health insurance?

While you’ll likely be taken to a public hospital in an emergency, private hospital insurance can help pay for inpatient hospital treatment. This can be beneficial if you require elective surgery following an injury. By holding an appropriate level of private hospital insurance, you’ll be able to choose your specialist and avoid the public waiting list if you decide to be treated in a private hospital. Also, extras cover helps pay for out-of-hospital services like physiotherapy and remedial massages, which can help your recovery.

In short, both types of insurance can be valuable when you’re recovering from serious injury. Let’s look at each type of cover in a bit more detail.

Hospital cover

This type of insurance helps with your medical expenses as a private inpatient in a hospital and has three main benefits. Firstly, it enables you to avoid public waiting lists for surgeries and procedures. If you need elective surgery to recover from an injury, hospital cover may help you receive medical treatment faster than in the public system.

The second benefit is that you can choose your doctor or specialist. This is handy if you have an injury that would benefit from a certain specialist, which you can choose.

Thirdly, you will usually be able to recover in the comfort of a private room provided one is available.

Extras cover

Some out-of-hospital healthcare service providers aren’t covered by Medicare or private hospital cover. If you want a product that will contribute towards the cost of services like physiotherapy, remedial massage, podiatry and dietetics, you should consider extras cover.

Ambulance cover

If you’re a resident of Queensland and Tasmania, emergency transportation costs are covered by your state government. For everyone else, ambulance cover is an essential purchase. Without it, you could be out of pocket hundreds or thousands of dollars if you require an ambulance, especially if you’re a long way from the nearest public hospital.

Which common sports injuries are covered by private health insurance?

According to the latest AIHW’s Sports injury hospitalisations in Australia report, these types of injuries result in the most sport-related hospitalisations:¹

Bone Fracture
Soft tissue injury
Open wound
Intracranial injury.

So, how would health insurance cover some of the costs associated with either the initial treatment of these injuries or any inpatient procedures that follow?

Health insurance isn’t needed for superficial cuts and scrapes and for more severe injuries, like intracranial injuries in particular, you should be seen by a doctor or go to the emergency room as quickly as possible.

However, if you suffer from any other injury that requires you to be admitted to hospital, you might want to consider how private health insurance could help.

Say you roll your ankle badly and sprain your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). After your initial treatment, you may require follow-up surgery, but because it isn’t medically urgent, it’s considered ‘elective’. You might have to wait a significant amount of time for surgery through the public system; yet in the private system, it may only be a few days.

Without private health insurance for sports injuries, you’ll either have to wait for your surgery on the public waiting list or pay the full cost out-of-pocket to be treated privately. With the right private health insurance plan, you can have peace of mind knowing you’ll be treated quickly if something happens, without breaking the bank. While you may be required to pay an excess and/or co-payment and some other out-of-pocket costs, these will be significantly less than paying the full cost yourself.

What other types of insurance can cover sports players?

Alongside private health insurance, there are other insurance products that you might want to consider if you regularly participate in sporting activities.

Income protection is designed to replace part of your income for a period of time if you’re unable to work due to an accidental injury, among other reasons. However, not all policies will cover sports injuries, and some will have exclusions for more extreme sports such as martial arts or bungee jumping, so it’s important to check with your insurance company to understand what’s included.
Sports injury insurance is a type of general insurance taken out by sporting organisations to cover their players and officials for sport injury compensation claims, among other things. For both amateur and professional sport players, it’s important to understand what is covered by your organisation’s sports insurance policy.

Meet our health insurance expert, Steven Spicer

Steven Spicer

Executive General Manager – Health, Life & Energy

As the Executive General Manager of Health, Life and Energy, Steven Spicer is a strong believer in the benefits of private cover and knows just how valuable the peace of mind that comes with cover can be. He is passionate about demystifying the health insurance industry and advocates for the benefits of comparison when it comes to saving money on your premiums.