We've got a couple different policy suspension options to help provide support to members experiencing financial hardship.
What is a policy suspension and how does it work?
ahm’s policy suspension allows you to put your policy on hold for a period of time. No premiums are payable to ahm during the time your policy is suspended, but it means that no benefits are payable for any services received during this time. Periods of suspension do not count towards waiting periods.
If you hold hospital cover, suspending your cover may mean you’re subject to the Medicare Levy Surcharge for the time of your suspension. More information on tax.
Policy suspension options
Unemployment suspension
You may suspend your policy while you or your partner are unemployed or employed but unable to work because of an injury or illness and receiving one of the following Centrelink benefits:
- Youth Allowance
- Austudy
- ABSTUDY
- JobSeeker Payment
- Sickness Allowance
- Parenting Payment
The suspension will commence from the date of your initial enquiry providing the documentation shows your Centrelink benefits were in effect, and your ahm policy would need to be paid up to this date.
We can suspend your policy for a maximum of two years or until you let us know you’ve returned to work (which you need to advise us of within 30 days of your employment start date).
Please note, in some cases you need to have had a minimum period of active cover in order to be eligible for suspension.
How to apply for an unemployment suspension
Simply provide us with a letter from Centrelink confirming the date you commenced receiving the JobSeeker Payment, Sickness Allowance or any other allowance relating to unemployment under the Social Security Act.
You can upload your supporting documents by logging in or via the ahm app, head to the Upload documents section and select the ‘Unemployment suspension documentation’ option.
Temporary financial hardship suspension
If you're experiencing temporary financial hardship but are not eligible for an unemployment suspension (noted above) and you have been an ahm member for at least 12 months, you can suspend your cover under our temporary financial hardship policy suspension option for up to three months.
If you suspend your cover due to temporary financial hardship, you may not be able to suspend it again for this same reason for 3 months (from the date your cover reactivates).
Please note, in some cases you need to have had a minimum period of active cover in order to be eligible for a policy suspension.
To process your application, ahm will collect certain information about you (including the information described above). ahm will use this information to confirm your eligibility and contact you to discuss your application if required. We may be unable to process your application without this information. Our privacy policy has further information about how we handle personal information, how you can seek to access to or correct your information, or how to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
How to apply for financial hardship support
Please get in touch by messaging us.
What if suspension isn’t suitable for me?
If you believe that a policy suspension isn’t suitable for your circumstances (e.g. you wish your cover to remain active in case you need to make a claim), please get in touch so we can discuss other support options.