onsisoppad

Can anybody give me an indication of how much a medical fund would be in NZ for a family of 5? Would that include optometry and dental?

Am Loolah

Our GP here recommended http://www.southerncross.co.nz/ but I must confess we haven't done it yet!

CAN2NZ

Ok, don't use Southern Cross. We initially went with Southern Cross. However, if you compare plans you will find that Southern Cross does not provide the same level of benefits per premium dollar as a few other plans such as iNG. We learned this through using an insurance broker. He had a table prepared that compared plans.

Now, we are a family of five. We don't have a dental plan and I wouldn't recommend adding one. Insurance is meant to cover for the unexpected. Here ACC covers you for any accidents. If you want to visit the dentist twice per year, you can either pay the dentist directly or pay the insurance company. It will cost the same, or should.

Our cost for two adults and three children is about $110 per month. You will have to advise the carrier on any pre-existing conditions.

alanmacc

we are a family of 3 with no medical fund to speak of, we just pay as we need treatment which seems to be working ok for us

CAN2NZ

I know what you are saying about paying as you go. However, it cost me $360 for an xray and ultrasound of my shoulder. If your doctor says they would like you to have an xray, unless you pay for it at a private hospital, it will take weeks to get it. I would much rather not pay for the insurance, however, a mate at work needed a triple bypass operation and it took four days to get on the table. That is the benefit of the private system. If you don't mind the six month wait to see a specialist, then the public system is for you.

Kimi-Deacon

We pay $84 with Southern Cross for the 2 of us but that does not include Dental, it does include pre existing conditions. Had an x ray and 2 ultrasounds done last week and the cost was $260, Pacific Radiology done the lot 2hours after my doctor said i needed them done, that would not have happened in the UK.

JimandLucy

Hi Guys,

I am a POM who is an insurance broker here in Tauranga. ING is the top independently rated family medical scheme here in New Zealand. Uniquely the cover works in Australia and NZ and you have access to more exotic medicines not the Govt list that excluded the expensive drugs like Herceptin until recently.
Anyone who needs to chat about it please call me on snip
James Sheridan

CAN2NZ

Jeremy Henderson in Christchurch is also from the UK and can help out on this topic among other things. PM me if you want his details.

Yes, we picked ING for the reasons given. Thankfully, we have been very healthy.

Genesis

Yeah us too. Family of 5. We are very happy with the kiwi NHS and have had good use of it..2 ops and one emergency and a host of outpatients to boot. The doc costs about $25 to visit and I just paid $900 odd for 2 pairs of glasses, dental work costs too aye? It woule never have put me off coming afterall glasses and dental stuff costs in the UK.

Kate and I have both paid for a couple of radiology checks but thats just about it. I am sure we would be well down now on health ins. payments had we gotten it 4 years ago. I reckon we would have paid something like $5k in premiums. I do not believe private will save your life in MOST cases (I am sure there are exceptions) thuis I will hang with the NHS..thers sooo much other stuff to pay for like sky TV its well off our fiscal radar!!

CAN2NZ

Genesis makes a good point. Insurance is a cost and really represents the risk you are willing to take. Its very true that for many things you will end up in the public system. For example, I came off of my bike in 2007 and spent three days in the hospital and had an operation to fix a broken hand. Everything was great. No private health insurance needed. The physio I went to afterwards was also paid for by the public system. The thing with insurance is that you never know if you are going to need it. If you decide not to insure, I would include a similar amount in your budget and save it for the time you may want to have something done. One of our girls will get her eye straightened. At home free and available. We were told here she would never get it unless we paid for it. So, our insurance will cover that one when it happens. Cost of the surgery is $3500 to $5000. So, yes, it is a monthly cost. You will have medical needs at some point. Many people here just get the major surgery cover so that if they need heart or other surgery, they get it quickly and it is covered. We don't have sky tv, we do have medical coverage. I wish I could afford disability insurance. Here, we get so many sick days paid by the employer and they do accumulate. If I need heart surgery I will be able to get it, but I don't know if I will have enough sick days and vacation days to cover the time off. That would be a real burden. Very important to save your extra bits of money here I find.

Kiwiprincess

Another thing to keep in mind is that in many cases - or at least all the policies I have seen with Southern Cross in different jobs - preexisting conditions are covered under certain plans (sometimes group schemes only) providing you don't apply for that particular issue within a certain amount of time.

In saying that, I have been a member of Southern Cross since the early 90s...maybe late 80s (I was just a wee nipper)and have never had a reason to change. I think my costs are less than what people now do though. Oh, one thing to remember, if you do have surgical covered that if a oral surgeon can do the work you can be referred to an oral surgeon for the dental work. Ok not for a filling, but a root canal and certain levels of extraction.

Again, another disclaimer: certain policies may exclude this if a dentist can perform it. But in other cases it is covered.

Ulster

You have to pay for children's dental/doctor/orthodentist/eye wear.

$6000 for braces for two years my parents are paying for my sister. In the UK it would have been free?

Kiwiprincess

ulster - your reference to children's eyewear and dental etc...do you mean in regards to my comment about preexisting conditions? I have to admit by that i was thinking of medical rather than dental or orthodontic treatment.

Regarding dental costs - I know some people have said that it was free/minimal cost in the UK to get braces fitted. I wonder what the conditions are to that? A good friend of mine has recently had braces fitted for both her daughter and herself in the UK and paid about £2500 each. I think she worked out it was a tad cheaper to get it done there - it would have cost nearly $10,000 in NZ.

Then again, it isn't 10k all at once, although it is obviously still a lot. My parents paid off my brothers orthodontic treatment over the three years he was receiving treatment. I can't recall the exact figures but it was something like $2000 at the beginning of the year and then interim payments.

Ulster

I thought i had clicked 'Quick Reply' It appears this forum seems to quote the last message when i do that.

My post had nothing to do with yours. Sorry.

mickey_d

[QUOTE=Kiwiprincess;7190282]

Regarding dental costs - I know some people have said that it was free/minimal cost in the UK to get braces fitted. I wonder what the conditions are to that? A good friend of mine has recently had braces fitted for both her daughter and herself in the UK and paid about £2500 each. I think she worked out it was a tad cheaper to get it done there - it would have cost nearly $10,000 in NZ. QUOTE]

From my understanding, in the UK if it's necessary i.e. overcrowding, it's free. If it's for cosmetic reasons i.e. correcting a couple of crooked teeth, you have to pay. Either way here, you have to pay.