gidxg03

My wife and I decided to try for a new baby and to give her the option of going private we took out a heath insurance policy with Letrobe which was purchased through Iselect which rated this product highly for maternity cover. This policy has been costing us $250pm for about the last 6 months. When she got pregnant she went along to see a consultant at a private hospital to be told the gap on her private policy was going to be about $3K!! We cannot afford this on top of the policy payments so now she has decided to go public. Can anyone tell me whats the point in having private health insurance apart from purchasing a basic package to reduce tax payments?

hollykimalan

I work in a Private Hospital and I think it is a disgrace that folk spend all that money on Insurance thats covers some but not all of your bills!
We have private cover and sometimes wonder why!
I sometimes think that the system is like the worst of the American and the worst of the UK systems brought together.
HKA
PS Rant concurred!

ABCDiamond

It can be good if you are a large family, (as a family of 7 pays the same as couple), but in general, in my opinion, it is best only for large optional things to beat a queue.

Personally I dropped it after 1 year, due to the gap thing. It was cheaper for me to say that I didn't have it

In my mind it isn't worth it.

elice_in_oz

Private health insurance only covers the hospital stay in a private maternity ward and some of the costs associated with labour and delivery. It does not cover the extortionate fees OB-GYNs charge. Their justification for the fees is high insurance premiums. Welcome to the litigious society...

Your health fund should have warned you that any private consultant would charge out of pocket expenses. Unfortunately, there's no way around those costs...

When I went private 4 years ago, I had some OB-GYN quotes in excess of $7k out of pocket. I went with the cheaper one (about $3k) who was very good. I basically paid for the luxury of seeing the same person throughout my pregnancy.

I went public for DS2 and had no complaints. We had ditched the private cover by then...

bumble69

Ahh good. Interested to hear people opinions on this one as I am considering what to do with this. I'm in two minds.

Bermudashorts

I looked into this a few weeks ago. I have concluded that we will take out some basic private cover because it is cheaper than paying the extra levy. But we won't use it in any situation other than in the even one of us needs an operation that there is a large queue for in public system.

It is a terrible system and doesn't encourage people to take out private insurance which I thought is what they want people to do. I don't think people should be worse off for having private cover but they seem to be.

moonsurfer

If you've got a chronic condition where you will need a few non-urgent or elective procedures over time, it probably is worth having it. If not, it isn't.

Sherlock Holmes

None at all as far as I can see.

mark213

We are paying about 3k for OB services at the moment. Decided to go private as there are no wait lists and the hospitals are private. Its our first but next time I think it will be public. As its our first we wanted to make sure we got the experience where we may not necessarily get in the public system.

Saying that the 3k is alot and is annoying. Its because the goverment capped the rebate on OB fees from 1st Jan 10 (prior to this the cap was alot higher) - and hence we were all clobbered with the higher tax. They say its because OBs were just raising fees and doing nothing. The fault lies with the goverment and the OBs not talking to resolve it. Instead they just but a cap so the general public suffers.

Anyway other benefits are that generally you dont have a wait list, and you get a private room, so suppose thats a reason for it. Dont forget without it its a big hit on the Medicare Levy Surcharge instead!

myrtle1

Have to agree with you .... We've been to see some Australian friends who praise the private cover and have urged us to take it out too. But I have read so much on here and cannot see where this will benefit us? We too are looking into some more basic cover - possibly especially for dentistry. Still very new here though - so still learning

ABCDiamond

Some policies may be better than others, and may have no gaps ?

You need to discuss this with people who have the experience, check who your friends use.

Must admit, that surprises me... but, things change..

Anastasia Beaverhausen

I have been wandering the same thing myself. I am having my 3rd, 2nd in Oz and went public with number 2 as the OBs fees were extortionate and barely covered by my insurance.

I opted for public as the labour would be handled by a midwife as with private, but at least I wont have to pay the OB to come in at the end and catch the baby.

I had no hesitation in opting for public for baby 3 as the service I got from the local hospital was outstanding and all I paid for was a couple of blood tests and ultrasounds (medicare rebates apply though). It depends on your local hospital and the type of ante natal and labour care they offer, but most are pretty good. We are not in a 3rd world country.

jad n rich

Why we have it..

The govt will tax us extra if we dont.

Dental check ups for 4 are around $600 twice a year, with medibank private they are free.

So the dental saving and tax not charged get us the premium back.

Surgery, 2 of the kids needed surgery, one ENT one sporting injury that would have waits of up to 2 years on medicare, sorted, done in the school hols, we picked the day, no wait about $400 out of pocket per kid, but we took the private room ensuite option could have been less.

Partners eyes, grew up in OZ, huge sun damage, wait list on medicare was quoted as 7 years approx, well the Docs actual words were " you will go blind waiting" we had no excess on that one, all agreed prices with surgeon and Medibank private agreement hosptial.

Its expensive about $290 a month now, was 120 a month when we took it out in 2002? like everything double or trebled in price in that time.

I also like the choice it gives us, dont assume if you get something serious it will be sorted out, many people in OZ without private insurance end up paying for surgery/treatment as there are very long wait lists for many things.

MrCro

I smashed my shoulder skiing in Jinderbyne in 2006 and had no private cover.

Went to GP who said this is top guy consultant surgeon in Sydney, he rang and made me appointment for next morning at 9am. I paid the GP and consultant bills and claimed most of costs from medicare.

Told consultant I had no private cover and he said "no worries mate I have a public list at your local hospital!" So I was booked in there with same top consultant and had operation and bed etc (only 2 to a room with personal TV's) for absolutely free!

All I paid was difference between his fees from private consultation and medicare repayment and it was peanuts compared to what monthly charges for private cover would have been!

Scotty1

Think a lot of this depends on your circs. We would not be charged the extra levy so thought long and hard about taking out a policy. In the end we did it because

I have a gynae condition that may reoccur and if it does I want a specialist that I choose and who understands this condition. I do not want the local registrar practicing on me - been there and done that and not a good outcome!
Hubby is likely to need some joint replaced in the not too distant - too many years playing in the front row! Wait lists for this kind of surgery very long and painful.
We will pay an extortionate lifetime health loading if we don't take out private health cover within a year of moving here.

If neither of us had these issues we would not take out the insurance

Scotty