Location: Southport, Gold Coast (ex Kingston, Surrey)
Posts: 11
Best insurance for orthodontic cover?
Hi. We are new to Oz (Jan 2008) and have just realised how expensive medical / dental treatments are!
My 10 yr-old son needs orthodontic work done (UK dentist said he needed braces - just before we left!).
Can anyone recommend the best insurers for this? The best I have found is a $700 rebate per year up to a life-time max of $2000... Given that treatment will cost around $6000 (if we're lucky) that's still a lot of dosh for us to fork out!
Any tips greatly appreciated! Thanks, M
I'm currently shopping around for medical insurance. We arrived end of June last year so we have to get it before 12 months is up or we lose the advantage of being "recently arrived" (you don't get penalised for being over 30 if that's applicable if you get your insurance sorted within 12 months of arrival), and also there's the dreaded "medicare levy" looming at the end of the tax year!
For dental it looks like HBA are marginally best. When I got a quote they were offering free general dental for kids. For orthodontics you will only ever get a fairly small lifetime amount - kind of the same as the UK really; we had to pay for our eldest's orthodontic treatment. Remember, there is usually a 12 month waiting period for orthodontic so if he needs immediate treatment you won't get anything anyway. I'm resigned to paying for my 14 year old's continuing orthodontic treatment and hoping that by the time my 9 year old gets there we'll be covered, but I still expect to pay most of the cost.
Location: Southport, Gold Coast (ex Kingston, Surrey)
Posts: 11
Thanks for that... I have a quote from HBA - they are offering $700 pa rebate for ortho up to a life-time max of $2000 + free general dental for kids (adults can claim up to 60%). How do you think they stack up with their other benefits compared to other insurers? They seem OK to me but I'm worried I may have missed something!
What's the medicare levy?! - sounds scary!!
Thanks, Magda
The medicare levy is paid when you do your tax return annually, it will automatically calculate it online for you, so technically you do not hand over any payment, your refund will be reduced by the amount, if you understand my meaning, maybe somebody could explain it further for you. However in tomorrows budget, there is supposed to be an improvement in the medicare levy, so heres hoping!!
The medicare levy is the 1.5% of taxable income which is paid at tax time - you will probably have been paying out enough tax as pay as you go so that you dont have to pay any more. The surcharge is the added 1% that they sting you if you dont have private medical insurance and your income is over a certain amount (to be changed in the budget tomorrow I think).
If you pay upfront for orthodontics, you will usually get a discount. Also, if you pay in one financial year then you will be over the safety net threshold (think it is about $1500 pa for a family) and so you can claim anything over that as a medical rebate. You wont get much back but it will be better than nothing. It was a long time ago when my son had braces but I recollect having one refund at the beginning of the process and a second one at the end.
The medicare levy is the 1.5% of taxable income which is paid at tax time - you will probably have been paying out enough tax as pay as you go so that you dont have to pay any more. The surcharge is the added 1% that they sting you if you dont have private medical insurance and your income is over a certain amount (to be changed in the budget tomorrow I think).
If you pay upfront for orthodontics, you will usually get a discount. Also, if you pay in one financial year then you will be over the safety net threshold (think it is about $1500 pa for a family) and so you can claim anything over that as a medical rebate. You wont get much back but it will be better than nothing. It was a long time ago when my son had braces but I recollect having one refund at the beginning of the process and a second one at the end.
The tax offset is 20% of net costs in excess of $1,500.
Location: Southport, Gold Coast (ex Kingston, Surrey)
Posts: 11
Another insurer I have found good for ortho is GMHBA...
Their Gold Extras cover will refund up to a max of $800 per year. They are more expensive than HBA's Silver Extras cover by about $100 pa but this is the top level of extra cover and includes lots of additional, well... extras!
Cheers, M
Best insurance for orthodontic cover?
