gloucester girl Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I am currently researching a health care fund. Do you have any recommendations? Good/bad experiences? I have just been talking to iSelect and on their website. They recommend a plan by nib. It seems that iSelect is sponsored by nib, and although the plan sounded good (although a little more than I was planning on paying) was it soft selling or are they a good company? Thanks in advance for your thoughts. In case it helps, we have been here for 6 months, a small family with one toddler, in sydney, earning a reasonable amount (less than $180,000 though), good health, so need the fund for emergencies and dental really.Quoted $311 a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dv4 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 What visa are you on? Doesn't sound like you need the health insurance to meet the visa requirements. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/health/243201-health-insurance.html#post1936880437 There was a discussion regarding providers recently...just follow the link above. We're with BUPA. Not the cheapest...but have not had to claim anything yet..so can't really comment on their service. But I've heard they are alright. Give's us adequate private and public cover. For dental and opticals, we're wth frank (https://www.frankhealthinsurance.com.au) Hope this helps... I am currently researching a health care fund. Do you have any recommendations? Good/bad experiences? I have just been talking to iSelect and on their website. They recommend a plan by nib. It seems that iSelect is sponsored by nib, and although the plan sounded good (although a little more than I was planning on paying) was it soft selling or are they a good company? Thanks in advance for your thoughts. In case it helps, we have been here for 6 months, a small family with one toddler, in sydney, earning a reasonable amount (less than $180,000 though), good health, so need the fund for emergencies and dental really.Quoted $311 a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled Pink Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I'm with Medibank Private and am currently using my obstetrics cover. I've found it pretty good so far, all my questioned have been answered really promptly, they are happy to put various things in writing so I have it clarified etc. My out of pocket expenses have been minimal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 need the fund for emergencies and dental really.Quoted $311 a month. You don't need a health fund for emergencies. In an emergency you will always be treated free AND promptly, so it's a waste of money to buy health care if that's all you're worried about. As for dental, yes dental is expensive but if you're taking out health cover just for that, the premiums will cost you far more than just paying for dental as you need it. iSelect gets paid commission by ALL the health funds they represent so they've probably recommended the best out of the ones they cover - but there are other funds they don't deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 This is the best comparison site IMHO and includes some useful general information about the subject: http://www.canstar.com.au/health-insurance/ However, as already mentioned, you may not need private cover; although ambulance cover may be adviseable, I believe, in NSW. (States vary in this area...which is why I am a bit hazy about NSW). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 We were with Medibank private for years and years but last year changed to HCF because we got more bang for our bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gloucester girl Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 Thanks for the advice. After looking at Frank we have decided to go for their most basic to get us into the private system, so that we can benefit from the LHC and the ambulance insurance. This is $100 a month, so I am going to put $200 in a separate savings account purely for medical costs. The thinking is that if we use it all up then we come out even compared with paying for health insurance. Or hopefully, we don't spend it all and the money is ours rather than gone towards insurance. Worst case scenario: we spend more than we would have done on health insurance and we have learnt a lesson. All insurance is a gamble either way in my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Thanks for the advice. After looking at Frank we have decided to go for their most basic to get us into the private system, so that we can benefit from the LHC and the ambulance insurance. This is $100 a month, so I am going to put $200 in a separate savings account purely for medical costs. The thinking is that if we use it all up then we come out even compared with paying for health insurance. Or hopefully, we don't spend it all and the money is ours rather than gone towards insurance. Worst case scenario: we spend more than we would have done on health insurance and we have learnt a lesson. All insurance is a gamble either way in my view. What do you mean, "get you into the private system"? Do you need to worry about the LHC yet - there's absolutely no advantage to taking it out before you have to? One problem with having the most basic insurance is that if you have private health insurance, your doctor and hospitals will automatically treat you as a private patient unless you make a fuss and insist on public treatment. With only basic cover, you will be paying big excesses on every treatment you receive. Whereas if you don't have private health insurance and need treatment, everything is free, exactly like the NHS. Australians have been frightened into taking out private health insurance by health fund advertising for years, and then the government introduced a penalty for high earners who didn't take out private cover. Those two reasons are the only reasons Australians have cover. My husband is Australian and none of his family has ever had private health cover in their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Australians have been frightened into taking out private health insurance by health fund advertising for years, and then the government introduced a penalty for high earners who didn't take out private cover. Those two reasons are the only reasons Australians have cover. That's not quite true. Some of us make a considered and rational decision based on the medical resources available in our local area, our age and health conditions and the waiting times for treatment. But all those factors vary greatly from one individual to another and from one location to another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gloucester girl Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Okay, so if you take out basic insurance then it will actually end up costing more rather than less for treatment! Is there a way of selectively revealing that we have private? Is that allowed, or does it have to be "declared"? Regarding the LHC, we are in our forties and arrived here 6 months ago (medicare registration 5 months ago), so that is why I wanted us to get in the private health system as to avoid the LHC and we have to do it soon. Other reasons for getting private is that I need a cataract operation, and am prepared to wait out the 1 year. I have tried to go public with this, but it appears that it will definitely more than a year to get this publically. And we want ambulance cover. I was told (by iSelect) that it costs $1000-9000 for an ambulance call - although I do find that hard to believe. Thanks for all your replies. I have taken out the insurance, but because of the generous cooling off period here can easily cancel it, if unnecessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyNook Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Okay, so if you take out basic insurance then it will actually end up costing more rather than less for treatment! Is there a way of selectively revealing that we have private? Is that allowed, or does it have to be "declared"? No it doesn't have to be declared. You can keep the fact you have private insurance to yourself - there's no way that anyone else knows you have it, unless you tell them. There would be many thousands of people who only have private health insurance for tax reasons (to avoid paying the extra Medicare levy) and who never use it at all. You are certainly not committing yourself to paying a lot of money for all medical procedures - you can still use Medicare whenever you like. Ambulances do cost a lot. We had a bill for $700 for a short 5k trip once. However you can usually buy Ambulance cover as an extra - it's not something that only comes with Hospital Insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Regarding the LHC, we are in our forties and arrived here 6 months ago (medicare registration 5 months ago), so that is why I wanted us to get in the private health system as to avoid the LHC and we have to do it soon. Other reasons for getting private is that I need a cataract operation, and am prepared to wait out the 1 year. I have tried to go public with this, but it appears that it will definitely more than a year to get this publically. And we want ambulance cover. I was told (by iSelect) that it costs $1000-9000 for an ambulance call - although I do find that hard to believe.. Ah that makes sense. You have a year's grace before you have to take out cover, but I can understand you wanting to join so you can get the cataract op. Just double-check that it's only a year's wait for a pre-existing condition - some funds make you wait two years. Ambulance cover - this is an interesting one. It keeps getting trotted out as a reason to have insurance. My oh and his family have never had private health insurance. We've had to call out an ambulance only twice over the last twenty years: both times no one even asked about insurance, and we were never charged. We lived in NSW, it may be different in other states. And as NickyNook says, it's available as a separate cover anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Okay, so if you take out basic insurance then it will actually end up costing more rather than less for treatment! Is there a way of selectively revealing that we have private? Is that allowed, or does it have to be "declared"?... It doesn't even matter if they know. Using the public system is fine and it is your choice whether you go private or public. If you don't mention anything GP's will often take a guess about whether you want to be referred private or public. Just let them know if you want to be referred to a public or private specialist to take the guesswork out of it. Private cover is split into two different products, private hospital cover and "extras" cover. You can get one or the other or both. If looking at "extras" I would recommend using an insurer that pays out a % of the claim, rather than "set benefits". If they do pay a % (eg 85% like mine), make sure it covers both general dental "and" major dental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy43 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 You definitely need ambulance cover, but that can be provided by the service provider, you don't have to join a fund. We have complete cover for all calls with SA Ambulance; some health cover provides cover for only emergency calls. The fee is generally around that quoted to you. My husband was referred for a cataract operation within the public system in Jan last year and it was done in March. I have several friends who have had similar wait times, through the Repat Hospital in SA. Perhaps you could ask for a referral to a public hospital with lesser wait times. Cataract surgery here is day surgery and often not rebateable. You can get insurance through not for profit funds, like HCF, which cover you for certain chosen services, and you can elect not to be covered for some, like obstetrics, that you will not need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Just be aware that ambulance cover is run by state govts and can works in different ways in different states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loulou Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Hi all, Looking for a little advice on healthcare. We are a family of 4 emmigrating to Perth in May. Aware we need ambulance cover but wondering about private healthcare insurance. We are entitled to Medicare but can't really make head nor tail of what it covers! Are doctors consultations free? My daughter also wears spectacles and my son will need braces within the next 12months. Myself, children and my husband are in good health and we currently pay for dental and eye care in the UK but the children's are free. Any advice appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled Pink Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Here you go a rough guide to what is/isn't covered: http://privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/whatiscovered/medicare.htm As far as I know from parents who have children in braces at the moment, its not covered as its considered cosmetic. I know one person who is covered, but they are having treatment to address a specific condition that requires actual intervention to help being able to eat properly other than simply for straightening their teeth. If low income you can claim towards children's dental check ups: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/child-dental-benefits-schedule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loulou Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Fab thank you tickled pink easy when you know where to look haha in all my searches this has never been brought up! Looks like the nhs really apart from ambulance, dental, physio and eye care? We have to wait for treatment on the nhs so no different in oz by the seems of things. Think I will look for a basic cover for these additional things (only because of the brace situation) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Spent a fortune on'full' hospital family cover over the years after having to take it out when we initially came over as part of 457 visa conditions. Despite this, almost everything we had done came with huge 'out of pocket' expenses and most of the things we needed (psychologists, psychiatrists, HRT) weren't covered at all. The enormous sums we have paid in did not compensate for free dental check-ups, the odd pair of reading glasses and discounts in physio treatment. We reduced our cover substantially a few years back and have only kept it going because we are getting on a bit now and may want to plan for some future procedures in which case we'll up our cover. Even then I'm not sure of the logic of this approach. The advantage of private I can see is that for non emergency procedures you get to book your time and date but I have no doubt that if we put all our healthcover premiums into a slush fund and paid outright for everything privately done we'd have been better off. I'm really terrified of the situation where one of us gets admitted in an emergency and we let slip we have cover and then get charged as private patients - I'm not sure how likely this is, but a friend had a very close call when her baby was born prematurely and she had switched from private to public hospital before the birth - her partner reckons they would have had to sell their house to pay for private excess as their son spent a great deal of time in special care - in the end they received excellent quality care in the public system Strangely there seem to be quite a few bulk billing GP practices springing up where I live (an affluent area). I now go to these GPs - they are very good, and don't assume you have a fortune to spend when referring you on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled Pink Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I'm having a baby on the private system now, pretty much everything is covered. If the baby is born early and needs neo natal cover that is included too - depends what you've included in your cover. I've had a stack of appointments, scans, bloods etc and it's cost virtually nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Looks like the nhs really apart from ambulance, dental, physio and eye care? Just thought to expand a bit on this quote from the link given to you by Tickled Pink: When you visit a doctor outside a hospital, Medicare will reimburse 100% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee for a general practitioner and 85% of the MBS fee for a specialist. The Medicare Benefits Schedule fee is usually considerably lower than the standard fee charged by the doctor. If the doctor doesn't "bulk bill" (ie. accept the MBS fee as full payment), you will need to pay the difference between the MBS refund and the full consultation fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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