hoofie2002

I've just signed the family to Medibank. After a bit of research their cover and charges seemed to be the best balance. The trigger was a $2200 bill to have a single bad wisdom tooth removed last week in hospital. I don't know what hurt more - the tooth or the bill......

I_Will_Freckle

Yikes! All my wisdom teeth are long gone now - thank you NHS.

Thanks too for this thread - lots of good info here.

melaniee

What about medibank Vs MBF ?

DerekM

After a bit of research and a lot of questioning to our friends and relatives we choose Medibank. We choose Full extras cover because it seemed the best option for dental work, prescriptions if you use a lot etc and medium range Hospital cover as all I required was not waiting on any lists if possible. Ours costs about 200 a month and when we joined they had a special offer on reducing waiting times for a lot of the categories. Finally one of my biggest factors was the accessibility of Medibank, I did not fancy a cheaper deal that operated by phone. Definite plus point for me.

ex Tassiemum

It may be worth mentioning if you join a Health Fund after you reach age 30 you are slugged an extra 2% for each year over 30 on top of the base premium quoted.

For example....lets say you are 35, you will pay an extra 10% on top of the base premium... 5yrs x 2%= 10% more on the base premium.

The Govt. has now capped this at 10yrs. Once 10 yrs have passed and you have had continous health cover for that time your extra premium will be dropped and you will pay what those under 30 pay.

breezeboylan

We have medibank, First choice hospital cover and first chice extras, cost us $55 a fortnight for 2 adults and 1 child. Have'nt used them yet but at that price we cant loose as we would have to pay that much in the tax levy.
Tracie

breezeboylan

Migrants dont pay the excess if they join before they are 12 months in the country
Tracie

znaylor1974

Correct - we're on a 457 and Medicare paid 40% of the cost of our GP visits. We're a family of 3 with Medibank ($386 a month) and the 2-month wait hadn't completed. My 5-year old son had a bad cough and the 2 GP visits cost cost $50 and £200.

He also had to go to the dentist ($150 & $100) as he had a small hole in a tooth but Medicare doesn't cover dental treatments.

Can get expensive.

mervbeng

I worked for Medibank for a year when I first arrived here developing their online services like online claiming. They are a great company, they treat their staff very well and therefore their customer service is excellent if you ever need to call. By putting your claims online, you don't need to submit any receipts and the refund can be put straight into your bank account. Therefore you could be at the dentist in the morning, claim online at lunch and have your refund the next day. Some insurers have 3 month turn around on paying claims submitted by post!

john_w

Hi does anyone know if the 12 months go from when you first enter the country or from when you are actually living there. We validated our visa in march 2007 but had to come back to sell house. Does it mean if we will have to pay the levy or is it from us living there permantley.

jad n rich

Weve got medibank private, not cheap, like all funds the level you pay dictates your returns, so higher level our refunds have always been fine.

However weve just been back from the Royal childrens hospital, son 3 needs operation, the poor staff at the kids hosp cannot even tell us what year :curse: he would be operated on, the wait list is so long, staff claim huge cutbacks have been made in last couple of months, so much for RUdds healthcare promises then.

Anyway seen private specialist operation is on 27th February

jce

Its one year from the date you validated your visa which is when you officially entered the country as a resident - so in your case you need to take it out before March 2008 to avoid the 2% levy (and thats per person as well)

sme

It wasn't with us - our initial date (as given by medicare) was deemed to be the date we migrated not when we validated. I think its a bit of a grey area.

Geelong Gent

My wife is with them and we have had nothing but good service and I do rate them based on personal experience.

For the 2 years premiums we have already incurred close too 10 years in costs for them and no qualms in them making the payments.

john_w

I do hope its when from when we migrate as I dont want to join one yet as dont know when we will sell our house so will be paying it for nothing. Does anyone know how I could find out for definate. Thanks.