Sulac Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Okay so today was not a good day. We are on a permanent resident status and today I learnt that as we didn't take up any private health insurance within a year of receiving our medicare card we are now liable for another 30% on private health insurance costs (ie a loading) - ten year loading if we take out private health insurance. Is this common knowledge - and how come we missed this? But we are being advised to take our private health insurance as my husband will get heavily penalised in his end of year tax return if he doesn't (apparently although not sure why) This is our dilemma - 7 year old son has been referred by a GP to see a speech therapist. Apparently under an EPC agreement , my son can see a Speech Therapist for five sessions immediately but there will be a shortfall or gap which we will have to fund ourselves. Rang the Speech Therapist today and it appears the shortfall for five sessions is $340 which is more than I expected. So then I think....hhmmm I should just sign up for private health insurance and get son seen that way. If I took out private health insurance tomorrow could he be seen fairly soon? Would I have to pay anything (other than private health insurance costs) and would i be capped on a limit to his speech therapy, ie amount of seesions or costs incurred...or maybe even if I did take out private health insurance I would have to wait until I could access speech therapy services.... If anyone can shed any light that would be fab. this private health care cover thing is driving me nuts!!!!:arghh: Sulac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Welcome to the rip off world of Australian private medical insurance. The reason why you were not aware of the 10 year loading (we pay a 50%) is because they don't tell you. We only pay for private insurance to avoid the surcharge, which works out the same for us anyway. You will have to work out what sort of cover you want then do the rounds with each of the insurance companies, each one will have variations on every limit, type of cover, excess amounts etc. When your head stops spinning you may decide which one to go with. You will have to disclose any pre existing ailments which will not stop you getting cover but you will have to wait a year or so before you can claim. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy43 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Private Health Insurance is not the same with each company. You should check several, through a site like www.iselect.com.au or www.comparethemarket.com.auand check what they offer for your particular needs. Most have a waiting period that you have to go through before you can make claims, but this varies. If you don't belong to a Health Care Fund, at the end of the Tax Year you will have to pay a surcharge, depending on your husbands income. The govt. introduced this to force people to join Health Funds. I think you have to belong for the whole year to avoid the surcharge. Have you checked with the school to see whether your son can be seen by a Speech Therapist from the Education Dept? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulac Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Private Health Insurance is not the same with each company. You should check several, through a site like www.iselect.com.au or www.comparethemarket.com.auand check what they offer for your particular needs. Most have a waiting period that you have to go through before you can make claims, but this varies. If you don't belong to a Health Care Fund, at the end of the Tax Year you will have to pay a surcharge, depending on your husbands income. The govt. introduced this to force people to join Health Funds. I think you have to belong for the whole year to avoid the surcharge. Have you checked with the school to see whether your son can be seen by a Speech Therapist from the Education Dept? Hi there is no Speech Therapist who will come to the school, although he did get this in England. His teacher and GP have said this ECP scheme is a great option and I didn't mind making teh shortfall....but when it came out at $340 for five sessions was a bit stunned (and that is just the shortfall) Do you think it will be the case that even though he is a 7 year old he will still have to wait a year to be seen if I sign up privately? Cheers Sulac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulac Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yes No one mentioned it to us either and feel slightly aggrieved. As someone said to me today "In Australia it is all about the money" and at this moment in time I really agree... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 No one told us where the 50% loading goes either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Private Health Insurance is not the same with each company. You should check several, through a site like www.iselect.com.au or www.comparethemarket.com.auand check what they offer for your particular needs. Most have a waiting period that you have to go through before you can make claims, but this varies. If you don't belong to a Health Care Fund, at the end of the Tax Year you will have to pay a surcharge, depending on your husbands income. The govt. introduced this to force people to join Health Funds. I think you have to belong for the whole year to avoid the surcharge. Have you checked with the school to see whether your son can be seen by a Speech Therapist from the Education Dept? The surcharge applies to joint incomes not just the main earner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BacktoDemocracy Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Welcome to the rip off world of Australian private medical insurance. The reason why you were not aware of the 10 year loading (we pay a 50%) is because they don't tell you. We only pay for private insurance to avoid the surcharge, which works out the same for us anyway. You will have to work out what sort of cover you want then do the rounds with each of the insurance companies, each one will have variations on every limit, type of cover, excess amounts etc. When your head stops spinning you may decide which one to go with. You will have to disclose any pre existing ailments which will not stop you getting cover but you will have to wait a year or so before you can claim. Good luck. It's not just Oz where it's a rip off, cancelled ours in the uk because of all the exclusions due to existing conditions and previous ops, but do agree OZ is particularly complex, try to get quotes from mutual insurers, there are a few, but check what they will cover, I'm not sure that speech therapy would be covered by any of them unless you are paying top dollar, you might want to see if you can get the cost of the therapy down by ringing round therapists yourself, the medical world in Oz is much more open and market orientated and there are always deals to be done. If you do get insurance check what payments will be made for recovery services after medical procedures, physiotherapy costs a lot and you might need a lot after an op and we ended up shelling out 100's after a knee replacement. You might want to take basic insurance and have a savings fund for the inevitable extras Also as your son has already been diagnosed I doubt whether insurers would cover it if you get it now I note that your gp sent you to the speech therapist, do your own ringing round to find a cheaper guy and then get the gp to refer to them,because gps often have tie up deals with specialists that they get a kick back from, it's a mile away from the tightly regulated NHS, it's much more market orientated and it's just like getting a car serviced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notpicky Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 As far as being hit for extra in tax (Medicare levy surcharge), it depends on family income and only applies above $176,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 But we are being advised to take our private health insurance as my husband will get heavily penalised in his end of year tax return if he doesn't (apparently although not sure why) This was introduced several years ago to encourage high income earners into private insurance and away from using public health facilities. I would recommend the following official government site to compare policies. Others, such as Iselect, don't cover all private health insurers - only those from which they receive a financial incentive. http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ This site also has information about the loading and how it is calculated. As to the conditions imposed for speech therapy, they will vary according to the rules of each insurer. Which state are you in? Health is administered by the individual states and it may be useful to mention your location, just in case someone knows of an option which hasn't been mentioned yet. My young grandson was treated by the Speech Pathologist at the local public hospital...and all sessions were free. However, we are in Tasmania and I don't know if an equivalent option is available in your location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 It was introduced to stop people from having no private health insurance in the young and middle age years. And then when they get to about 70 they all take out private health insurance. It makes sense otherwise you only get old ans sick people taking out private cover and the system collapses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Okay so today was not a good day. We are on a permanent resident status and today I learnt that as we didn't take up any private health insurance within a year of receiving our medicare card we are now liable for another 30% on private health insurance costs (ie a loading) - ten year loading if we take out private health insurance. Is this common knowledge - and how come we missed this? But we are being advised to take our private health insurance as my husband will get heavily penalised in his end of year tax return if he doesn't (apparently although not sure why) This is our dilemma - 7 year old son has been referred by a GP to see a speech therapist. ... So then I think....hhmmm I should just sign up for private health insurance and get son seen that way. It's not true that your husband will be "heavily" penalised in his tax return. If you don't have private health insurance, he'll have to pay a Medicare Levy surcharge, depending on his taxable salary. https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/Medicare-levy-surcharge/ However, remember you haven't shelled out thousands of dollars of private health insurance premium, so in that sense you are still ahead! As for your son - unfortunately, when you join a private health fund, you're not covered for pre-existing conditions. You usually have to wait 12 months to 2 years before you can claim for any ailment that existed when you joined, unless you can find a fund that has a special offer at the time. IF you take out private health insurance now - yes, you will need to pay a loading. It was a rule introduced to force people to take out insurance. However, you may not need it. The private health industry has done a great job of scaring Australians into thinking they can't survive without it, but it's not true. We live in Sydney. My husband (and his whole family) have never had private health insurance and have always been able to get treatment when they needed it. I do have private insurance but before the loading came in, I didn't - and I have to say, I've been treated for a couple of serious illnesses and in general, I had better treatment in the public sector than in the private. So in Sydney, private insurance isn't necessary. From what others have said on these forums, public sector medical care isn't as good in Queensland or in WA, so it depends where you live perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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