Stitch

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help me out. I am really confused about all this Private Health Insurance and don't know which one to opt for. Also not sure about all this hospital and extra cover.

There's me and hubby with two kids, one has autism. I wear lenses and we visit the dentist for check ups. Anyone any suggestions or can you make sense of the hospital/extras jargon.

Cheers

Ginny

worzel

It is a really confusing subject. If you jointly earn $100K then the cost of the premiums is about the same as the extra tax you would pay if you didn't take it out so get some - that is the only clear point I can come up with.

For me employers have subsidised it in the past so go with whatever their policy is built around perhaps.

Failing that, pick a big firm like Medibank and sit down and chat for an hour to see what they recommend.

suebrennan

Look at iselect.com

Good luck, Sue

worzel

Maybe that site has got better but when I looked 12 months ago they didn't have any policies from HBF or Medibank (the top 2 in WA) and I couldn't make sense of what it did suggest

Stitch

Thanks guys for the help. Might just have to go and have a chat. They only two that I'm aware of is MBF and Medibank. Seen their offices locally.

Cheers

Ginny

biggy

if ur not over the threshold then dont bother they r all a ****** rip off

Stitch

Not over the threshold yet. I'm still sole earner and that's for peanuts. Hubby should get some part time work in the next month or so. Will bring our earnings up but not greatly. I take it it ain't worked for you then.

Cheers

Ginny

Buzzy--Bee

This threshold business. Is this based on joint earnings as I think it is? Like, if Mrs Buzzy is a full time Mum and earns nothing, I can earn up to 101,500 before I have to pay medicare levy?

Anyone know the answer?



Buzzy

worzel

$50K for a single, $100K for a couple - so yes you can share it.

Vernons

I am totally confused as well so you are not alone! We went into the Medicare office on Thursday to join up and the lady totally confused and scared us!! She led us to believe that we are not covered for hospital treatment at all!! This scared us and made us wish we had the NHS again. Anyway after speaking to some Aussies we now realise if we have an accident an ambulance will pick us up (paid for via electric bill in QLD) and take us to a public hospital where we will be treated. We wont get to pick who treats us but they wont leave us with limbs hanging off!! Medicare will pay 75% of the bill and then we have to pay the rest!!!!! Now all of my Aussie friends have opted for private cover. This means they get to go to a private hospital and can get things done without going on a waiting list (like uk) and waiting x number of months/years. However they pointed out that the private cover will pay out the 25% gap that Medicare wont pay but only up to the scheduled amount (ie the set anount in the medicare bible eg. broken arm$5000 or something) but if you private doctore chrages $7000 for a broken arm (actually have no idea of true cost) then you have to cover that extra amount - does that make sense??
Now we are planning on starting a family soon and the girls were advising me to go private as they do not rate the public maternity hospital here (Nambour - would love to hear some good reports please) but they pointed out that it will probably come over that sceduled fee I was talking about and even on top of medicare and their private medical insurance they still had to pay nearly $1800 yet they pay $200 a month in premiums!!! Weird. Husband is at work today so I have been looking on the website and getting quotes for private cover and it seems that you can get all sorts of levels, some basic some singing and dancing. For the two of us we were looking close to $200 a month for average cover BUT have just looked into the small print and I wouldn't actually be covered for having a baby for 12 months so we need to get the cover now if we are going to and also hope that a baby doesn't appear too quickly!!!
We do not earn anywhere near $100,000 at the moment as it is only my husband working however when I start to work I think we will go just over it - do they calculate it based on gross or net salary? So if we don't earn $100,000 between us then we wont get charged more??
I think I would like to get private cover as having to find 25% of a huge hospital bill if something terrible happened could totally cripple us but finding $200 dollars for more insurance (on top of car, house and life) is tough too. I hope this has helped someone, hopefully I will figure out what we are going to do soon.

Stitch

Wow, that's a lot of surfing you've been doing. I know what you mean about the smallprint though. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Ginny

worzel

If you take out a policy at a later date they will charge you a higher premium for every year you are over 30 (I think) that you did not have cover - 1.5% pa springs to mind but please check. As a migrant you get 12 months grace to sign up.

So if you don't earn the $100K yet but think you will in the next year or two it might still be worth doing in your first year.

Vernons

Yea that is a good point. Thanks for that. Who have you gone with? What cover have you opted for?

worzel

Medibank Private as that was who my then employer based their policy / contribution on (Advantage Plus hospital and extras). When I moved jobs I got a similar policy but a better deal (now I am paying myself) still with Medibank Private but now called Priority.

What we all really need is a crystal ball as if we knew what we would claim for we would get the minimum policy. You just need to decide how willing you are to have smaller premiums and risk paying for things not covered.

Stitch

They all seem to talk about Hospital cover and extras. I can see a long discussion coming on.

Cheers

Ginny