I have read on here that hospital cover is not worth it. Is it the same for the extra's or is that wasted money? I am uming and aring about whether to take it out or not. Both me and DD are in excellent health - do i really need it or would it be cheaper to pay as i need stuff doing?

My view is exactly the opposite : we have hospital cover. But my view is that the "extras" cover is not worth it.

I really use it for my daughter but even for me I like it - I wear glasses, I have teeth, my back sometimes aches, I am having a nervous breakdown - it all helps

Vivienne

We haven't bothered with Private Health Insurance in three years. However recently we did take out the Extras cover and so far are a couple of hundred bucks up. Even if a family only use it for optical and dental you get more money out per year than you pay in premiums.

Wouldn't bother with hospital cover. When we've needed hospital assistance Medicare have been brilliant and come up trumps.

My own opinion is that extras is not worth it.

Reasoning is as follows: privae health insurance basically insures you against "catastrophic" bills - that is, you hope that you never have to claim but if you have, say, a heart attack it will pay out something to cover some of the costs.

Extras though covers things like glasses - that is, costs that you are going to have on a continuing basis. So premiums assume that everyone will claim more or less continuously - so if you add in the fund's admin and profit, on average you will be not only paying for your glasses and dentists but also those other costs. You may claim more or less than you pay in premiums, but on average you won't be better than if you pay as you go.

Catastrophic events like a heart attack are fully covered by Medicare. No need for private hospital cover for anything that's an "emergency" or classified as "urgent".

Private hospital cover is really for things that Medicare classes as "non-urgent" or "elective", where you have to join a waiting list - but you want to get it done straight away. That could be something like a hip-replacement or cataract surgery for example.

I certainly found this was the case with the HCF extras package - They have special optical centres where the prices area allegedly cheaper, but I was able to source similar procucts on the internet for a fraction of the price, and come in well under what they weresuggesting was a good deal.

As a bare minimum, I now just have Ambulance and Hospital cover. I think that if you are eligible to pay the extra Medicare tax, then Hospital is the absolute minimum you need to claim an exemption.

I would say take Ambulance too, as you have no control over what happens if you are rendered unconscious. My GF came off of her Vespa, and she was fine, but somebody called an ambulance on her behalf, despite her asking them not to, and she still got stung with the bill.


S

That's a matter of opinion: if you want a private room instead of being put in a rundown, dirty ward you have to pay for it.

Of course, in WA it might be different.

I think it's a con. When it came to using it to claim my ever so generous allowance of $92 for a new pair of frames (glasses) they only gave me about $62 even though they claimed I could claim up to $92? What on earth would I need to do to claim the remaining $30?

Don't forget that Medicare also covers certain aspects of opthalmic treatment.

We considered not getting cover but as a minimum you must get ambulance cover - it can cost thousands.

In the end for the peace of mind we went for a a full package with extras but I get a discount as I am currently working for a provider. My daughter just got two pairs of glasses yesterday and we got 90% paid. This is on a top "visitors" package though.

This page has some useful info (see the first few pages of the "visitors cover overview") as well as details of some HBA products but I'm sure other providers have similar packages.

Just for reference purposes: you don't need ambo cover if you're in Queensland. You get cover automatically when you pay your leccy bill.

I would take a guess that the policy works by paying up to say 50 to 75% of the cost, up to $92.

It's all "smoke and mirrors"....

I am with Police Health and have claimed loads for glasses contacts massages, prescriptions, discounts at chemists etc etc I just know that its sods law if I stop it Ill end up in a horrible ward with a huge bill at some point. Also there is so little sick pay here, makes it more crucial to get stuff seen to quickly.

Mainly I took it out because of the medicare levy, but I think ill keep it on.

I reckon it's the hospital cover that's questionable whereas the extras is an absolute must for us, a family of 5.