Wilgar

I`m still shocked at how much health care costs here in Oz and am interested to know how many people do not bother with private health cover or if they do roughly how much do they pay per month.
We are a family of 5 and are paying $400 per month with Medibank Private.
Any comments ?

Petals

Do not have private health gave it up 20 years ago, rip off.

My oh has just been unwell, he was bulk billed at the GP, bulk billed at the radiologist, and at the super new pet machine. He had a chest xray, two ct scans, a pet scan, a lung aspiration, saw a lung specialist, referred to a surgeon, the surgeon he was referred to did the op in a public hospital, five days in hospital out of pocket costs for us has been $150.00 all up. How long did he wait for the op, he saw the surgeon on the Friday one week and nine days later he was admitted to hospital for the operation. He was ill for about six weeks. Outcome he is fine now.

I need my foot operated on it will probably take me a year or so to get an op but who cares I still walk and when its painful I take panadol, I can wait its not going to kill me.

People get so scared, if you are hurt at work, work cover pays, if you are hurt in a car crash registration pays. If you fall off a chair at your friend's place and they are insured for public risk it will pay.

Think about it.

Wilgar

OMG.Well then I wonder why we have it.In last year we`ve had 3 pairs glasses and no out of pocket cost.However one son has speech therapy and OT at $70 per 1/2 hr.That we pay for but can claim half back. Each time he goes to optician we get half cost back.Oh and dental has been free except for all the intial x-rays. If you do not have it tho` surely you are at risk of some huge bills at some point.

NickyC

We have the most basic Hospital cover - really only to avoid having to pay the extra 1% to Medicare. We also have a middling Extras cover (just dental and optical).

It costs us $234 a month with HBA for a family.

I did find figures once to show that just under 50% of people have Hospital Health insurance so plenty of people do have it.

comet555

We are a family of 4 and pay about $140 a month with Medibank Private for the basic hospital package and extras. We have a PR visa, so perhaps this is why it's cheaper for us? Not sure why the OP is paying $400 a month unless it's a temp visa or one of the really extensive packages.

We only have it to avoid paying the extra tax. If it weren't for that we wouldn't be bothering. We almost never use our private health, so far it's only been for dental appointments.

James516

No. Medicare coverage means you won't face huge bills (except dental maybe). You might have to wait a while for elective surgery but that's really the only downside.

ABCDiamond

I had insurance for my first year here, but then found that instead of having free hospital treatment, I would have to pay a gap payment if I used the insurance, so I opted not to use it, had free treatment, and never renewed the policy.

CEM

Hi Wilgar! How're you getting on, now you're back?
This is something I've had to think about over the last couple of weeks. We pay around $360 per month for our cover with HCF - for 5 of us. It shouldn't be this much, but I discovered that oh and I are paying an age loading - 28% for me and 31% for him!!. We have lived in Aus before, but have always had private cover. The confusion between medicare and the health fund trying to sort this out is very frustrating. Medicare can only issue an exemption cert from the original date of entry (1999), which would then make us liable for the loading and HCF need proof that we have lived out of the country in between. You'd think that was easy enough, but no...
Anyway - that's a bit off topic, sorry. When all this is sorted out,I'm going to have a really good look at it. We're paying for orthodontic cover which we can't access until we've had the policy 2 years. Middle daughter will have finished her treatment by then and the youngest, bless her (!), looks as though she may get away with not needing braces. The maximum payout is $2k (of a 6.5k bill) and I have a feeling that we will have paid more into the fund than we would get out. Middle one has also had some physio - total cost $200 and the rebate was $104 - again, I'm sure we've paid more than that into the scheme already. I don't know that we wouldn't be better just paying for incidentals like that and just being covered for major things - critical illness etc. I just don't really understand how the whole health system works!
C

Amazulu

There are tax benefits to having private healthcare. If you are on a fairly high income then it is worth having some form of private insurance.

Wilgar

Hi CEM good to hear from you.I`m well now tho it took a longtime to settle back due to various things I`ll tell when I see. All well now that the cold has gone and the summer looms.
I dont understand the health system here it seems that if I went to local state hos everything would be free. Yet I`m always asked to pay for treatment. Howeverl really but judging by these answers it seems we are paying a lot of $ needlessly. Think I need to look into it again.

Wilgar

OK But what if one of us had God forbid an accident and needed urgent surgery .Would we have to pay up front?

jad n rich

We pay 250 a month/family.

Keep it for several reasons.

High income, extra tax if we dont have.

A good half of the yearly premium comes back in basic dental alone.

Glasses, for eg, partner just got 2 pair no cost to him at all, taht sorta stuff.

Often the Ohh on medicare I got seen in 2days/weeks are because it was a category 1 type problem or emergency. yes medicare will see me if I get hit by a bus or have a massive heart attack, if I want my kids tonsils whipped out or partners sundamaged eyes fixed it can be a wait of several years.

NickyC

Depends on how urgent the surgery is. If you get run over and break your leg, it will all get fixed up straight away on Medicare and won't cost you a cent. Medicare is fantastic for emergency-type stuff.

It's the elective things it's not so good for. If you get old and need hip replacement you'd probably go on a waiting list to get it done on Medicare for nothing. Whereas, if you have private health insurance you can get it done right away.

Don't forget that even if you have health insurance you don't have to use it. Private hospital cover is great for avoiding having to pay the extra 1% levy (if that applies to you) and also it means you're in the system and won't have to pay an age loading if you want to join up later when you're older. It's also there if you really need it.

Wilgar

I`m sorry.You are all talking about this 1% levey.What is that? I`m not aware of having paid it.

NickyC

Medicare Levy Surcharge.

Currently you have to pay it if you are:

a single person with an annual taxable income greater than $73,000
or
a family or couple with a combined taxable income greater than $146,000
and do not have an approved hospital cover with a registered health insurer.

It's added onto your tax bill, if you have to pay it.

http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/info...dicarelevy.htm