Thanks Di and Renth.
Renth can you recomend a good health cover insurer or PM me i would be grateful if anyone knows of one which has good cover. But as you said the clinic was just great and you definatley get what you pay for .
Thanks again
Joanne

We've got Medibank Private with the full whack of hospital and extras cover. A $500 excess means a monthly premium of $190 for a family of 5.

This will hopefully reduce when and if the legislation relating to immigrants and the lifetime health cover loading ever gets passed.

There are waiting periods and major dental is 12 months.

hi Jo

Glad to hear all went well with Scotts treatment!

I have just amended our cover as the hospital cover was WAY too expensive (and figured we'd take our chances with Medicare if we need hospitalisation) but I have kept up the Ancillary cover.

We are with HIF and for the family premium options it works out at $36.45 fortnightly. This covers for:

ambulance
asthmatic spacers
blood/glucose moniters
chiropractic
complementary therapies
dental
diabetics education
dietetics
first aid course
funeral assistance
healthy lifestyle (gym membership)
hearing aids
nebuliser/humidifier
orthotics
osteopathic
peak flow meter
optical
pharmacy
podiatry
prostheses
psychological
occupational therapy
orthoptics
physiotherapy
speech therapy

As Renth said, there are waiting periods for these, but I kind of figured that this stuff was what we might need.

love sophia x

This sounds like a good idea for you, but not to be recommended for everyone.

Just to explain to people still in the UK. For people over 30 you get a 2% loading for each year over age 30 you are, so if you are 34 it will cost you 8% more etc. This keeps going up each year so the longer you leave it the more expensive it will get in the future. This is the main reason we took ours out now. Especially if both of you are over 30, then it is even more!

Another way to get around it is to just take out the most basic hospital cover, and upgrade to extras later on when you might have more money. A friend of mine suggested this. You can get basic hospital cover for a family for about $100 a month ish.

I didn't mean that in a nasty way - sorry if it sounds abrupt!

Has anybody had orthodontic work started in the UK and continued in Oz?

Did it work out OK?

I dont know whether to start it in the UK privately, join the queue on the NHS or wait till we go to Oz. I got a quote of $4000 when in Sydney - it seems expensive wherever you are. Oh and the orthodonist was just taking delivery of his new Maserati !

Just picked up on this thread. It may pay to have a second opinion. I was told when 9 that my jaw would need breaking later for major underbite - lower jaw out much further than upper. Mother in one of her kinder moments decided not to. Had a few teeth removed in early teens. Now 43 (how did that happen ) and upper and lower jaw near enough equal. I look normal!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Penny

MY GOD

Jo, it would have been cheaper to fly back to the uk!!
Is it possible to get dentristry cover on its own??? Anyone?

We are with HCF and have family extras. They have their own dental practice and check ups, clean and descaling, fillings are all free for all of us. They are busy though and you have to book an appointment a couple of months in advance but we didn't pay a cent for our last check up. before we had the plan I forked out around $200 for me and the kids to have just check ups and then another $150 for my daughter to have a filling replaced (the one she had done in the UK had fallen out). I also had an apiceptamy here before we had the cover and that cost about $500 (in the UK it cost me about 300 pounds, NHS). I ended up having an extraction as the apiceptamy didn't work again and that cost me around another $300. Anyway, not sure how much it would have cost using our plan.

After reading this thread I'm worried now as I need to have all my wisdom teeth out, it will be interesting to see how much its going to cost through HCF, I'll let you know!! Also my daughter might need braces!

Mandy

Thanks soph for that i will look into the HIF and see what they can come up with, but thanks again for your words for scott. Renth i will also look into medibank private thanks also for getting back to me.
Hevs my dad said the same but when we left the UK i cancelled our places at the local dentist, we had been with them for years and they had gone private so werent taking on any more patients, also they said there was a 2 year waiting list to just to get to see the orthodontist, so couldnt do that either. Its a shame isnt it i could have proabaly done it alot cheaper, but it would have been alot of hassle. Also to be honest none of us wants to go back to the UK we would rather pay and stay here even though its just crippled us Hey but at least the little chap is getting better, mind you hes still sucking on bread ( with no crusts) and drinking soup
Joanne

Hi Jo

sorry to hear about your son and costs involved!! nasty shock all round....

Thanks for informing us though and to everyone else for the advice on who to use for cover, off to look into that one now

catch up once we've settled

Teresa

Also look up
www.Manchesterunity.com.au they are non-profit making and have no excesses for children or if you are admitted in an emergency and only a $200 at other times. They also waived the 2 month wait to claim for all of us so we could go to the dentist straight away.

I have also been recommended Medibank Private by a friedn but they worked out slightly more expensive for us and had a higher excess.

Excellent post,
again, echoing grayling's post, not negative but important.
Found comments on teeth in uk,nz and oz interesting, obviously more reason in oz to take care of your teeth ( especially at a younger age due to that being free in uk ).

Personally, we are all going to the dentists before we go to oz, Ann-Marie & the kids are ok, just checkup stuff and maybe a filling or two.
Me on the other hand, mine are knackered.I hate my teeth and have most of the left hand side missing.I'm booked in to get sized for a plate ( ? ) but being someone that has never really taken enough care of my teeth find this post quite concerning.
I have even developed talking without opening my mouth very far and probably look a complete and utter knob.

Probably going to go and brush what's left of them right now.

Paul

I agree with Penny - Get a second opinion - my twins age 11, both have plates to extend their upper jaw as their lower jaw is bigger and the orthodontist in UK says the upper jaw stops growing at around 12/13 but lower jaw keeps growing until about 19! therefore if upper jaw is extended bigger than lower at this age, the lower jaw should catch up by late teens and therefore look normal, without any jawbreaking!!

We were also told not to have braces fitted before leaving UK as they use different metals ones over there and if they broke at all the Oz dentist would have to replace the whole brace instead of one piece - and my orthodontist is originally from Melbourne so she should know , and she also said will cost about 4K for traintracks.

Anyone one know the winning lotto numbers???