What is the AHHCCS
The AHHCCS helps indemnity insurers with the cost of large insurance payouts for claims against allied health professionals. It started on 1 July 2020.
The AHHCS is one of the Australian Government’s medical and midwife indemnity insurance schemes.
Services Australia administers the HCCS for the government.
Why is it important
Large payouts can make it harder for indemnity insurers to provide affordable insurance cover.
The AHHCCS helps to lower insurance premiums for allied health professionals by reducing the:
- payout amount insurers must pay
- reinsurance amount insurers must buy to fund large claims.
Who is it for
The AHHCCS helps insurers with the cost of claims against allied health professionals who:
- are in private practice
- have professional indemnity insurance
- are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).
This includes private midwives who are:
- engaged as employees
- covered by their employer’s professional indemnity insurance policy
- not endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board (registered only midwives).
The insurer must have provided professional indemnity insurance to registered medical practitioners or their employers on 1 July 2020.
Eligible claims
The claim must be:
- higher than the AHCCS threshold of $500,000
- for an incident that occurred on or after 1 July 2020.
Insurers can find out more about eligible AHCCS claims on the Services Australia website.
For claims about incidents before 1 July 2020, see the High Cost Claims Scheme (HCCS).
The AHHCCS started on 1 July 2020. Before this date, the HCCS covered allied health professionals and continues to do so for incidents that occurred before that date.
What is covered
The AHHCCS reimburses 50% of the insurance payout amount that exceeds the AHHCCS threshold, up to the professional’s cover limit.
The AHHCCS does not cover the whole payout amount. This ensures insurers take some of the risk of high payouts.
If the payout exceeds the cover limit
If the insurance payout exceeds the professional’s cover limit, the claim may also be eligible for the Allied Health Exceptional Claims Scheme.
How it works
The Australian Government fully funds the AHHCCS. Insurers can apply to Services Australia for an AHHCCS payment.
Legislation
The government set up the AHHCCS under the Medical Indemnity Act 2002. Find out about the legislation that supports indemnity schemes.
Contacts
Medical and professional indemnity insurance contact
