Health Insurance:Lifetime Health Cover Loading Deadline

[Keith and Linda]

That is a fair point though most policies require the patient to stump up a sizeable excess so that would still act as a disincentive.

 

To give an analogy. This morning a stone from a passing lorry chipped my windscreen. It may or may not be repairable. I am allowed one windscreen claim per year so when I claimed I was, rightly, asked if I wanted to use up my one claim or preserve it. Even having insurance can make you seriously consider putting off remedial work.

 

Maybe you would have being better off when the stone hit, driving into a wall saying the stone made you swerve, write the car off and then get a new car for the cost of the excess!

[Suzukiscottie]

Maybe you would have being better off when the stone hit, driving into a wall saying the stone made you swerve, write the car off and then get a new car for the cost of the excess!

 

 

Any time you want to borrow my car, just ask! :wink:

[Keith and Linda]

Any time you want to borrow my car, just ask! :wink:

 

Having made two or three insurance claims in my lifetime, I have found that though being honest with what I have claimed the insurance companies will reduce/refuse ones claim I know it becomes a vicious circle but one is tempted to enhance a claim so as to get what one believes to be a fair result.

I will get my wife to drive your car................no stone required.

[Fisher1]

Hi all

 

OH and I are planning to move over in a year or so, and I am trying to get my head round the way the health service works here. I have to say I'm completely confused! Can anyone give me a brief clue? Thanks in advance.

[Gbye grey sky]

The same, I suppose, applies to all types of insurance though it does seem a little strange that we have in general no qualms about paying for car, home, contents,holiday insurances and the like but we baulk at health insurance! we got spoilt by the NHS system do you think?

 

I have qualms about paying for most insurance 'products'. Car insurance is a legal requirement and house insurance just makes sense because the cost of premiums is relatively low when measured against what you stand to lose (and unless you are rich self-insuring your house is a non-starter).

 

Not sure that I would use the word spoilt having the NHS but I see your point. Looking comparatively at the USA even with Obamacare their public health system is a total disgrace and shows where you wind up if healthcare is left to rampant market forces.

 

The problem with health insurance is, if it is to be worth having, it is bound to have premiums that cost a fortune. It seems policies are only viable in Australia for high earners because it is subsidised through a medicare levy.

[JockinTas]

The same, I suppose, applies to all types of insurance though it does seem a little strange that we have in general no qualms about paying for car, home, contents,holiday insurances and the like but we baulk at health insurance! we got spoilt by the NHS system do you think?

 

Medicare started here in 1984 ................ correct me if I am wrong ............... and apart from me having babies in public hospitals we rarely went to a doc - apart from the children's vaccinations etc. We paid for dental care and now that we are oldies now needing specs, we pay for them ourselves too. We were lucky as we had very good health and never saw the need for private health care. We have both had ops later in life in public hospitals - very good care at all times especially for my OH who was really quite ill before coming to Tasmania. He was admitted to hospital straight away - no waiting.

[Gbye grey sky]

Hi all

 

OH and I are planning to move over in a year or so, and I am trying to get my head round the way the health service works here. I have to say I'm completely confused! Can anyone give me a brief clue? Thanks in advance.

 

Still trying to get to grips with it myself.

 

In some ways there are similarities to the UK. You will get free emergency care though may have to pay for an ambulance to get you to hospital.

 

Dentists are totally private. GPs you may have to pay part of the cost to see (unless they bulk bill - which mine does though I have registered but not made an appointment yet).

 

Prescriptions have to be paid for in full I believe.

 

Other treatments are either private or subject potentially to a long wait (which can be similar to the NHS).

 

More people proportionately than the UK seem to have some private cover but not sure whether this points to perceived deficiencies in the public health system or the tax incentives.

[Keith and Linda]

I have qualms about paying for most insurance 'products'. Car insurance is a legal requirement and house insurance just makes sense because the cost of premiums is relatively low when measured against what you stand to lose (and unless you are rich self-insuring your house is a non-starter).

 

Not sure that I would use the word spoilt having the NHS but I see your point. Looking comparatively at the USA even with Obamacare their public health system is a total disgrace and shows where you wind up if healthcare is left to rampant market forces.

 

The problem with health insurance is, if it is to be worth having, it is bound to have premiums that cost a fortune. It seems policies are only viable in Australia for high earners because it is subsidised through a medicare levy.

 

Most insurance makes sense.................when you need/needed it. House insurance, how often has your house burnt down or flooded? how many times have you been broken into? I would hazard a guess that the numbers are very close to zero for most people, yet we still feel that we need to cover that small risk. Car insurance is only third party is a legal requirement yet I guess a majority take out extra above that and is that because we have a general belief that there is a greater risk associated with cars? and that we love and cannot be without them?

The NHS has spoilt us to the point that we (Brits) have a general belief and expectation to be treated for free and that such free health care should apply to living in Aus too (an assumption that Aus is an extension of British systems?). Though how often do we actually need an hospital? I know it is few and far between for myself, so should we, like our homes, insure against the low chance of something happening? or do we take the risk and then have a good old whinge when something happens!

Personal decisions at the end of the day I suppose

[Parley]

Car insurance is another candidate for self insurance.

You would take out a cheap 3rd party plus property policy which would cover damage to other property but not cover your own car.

Just in case you run into a very expensive car.

 

You could put money away into a separate account to cover any repairs for your own car if they ever occur.

 

 

You would never do it for home building insurance in case your house burnt down or severely damaged.

 

Contents may be a possibility.

[Keith and Linda]

Car insurance is another candidate for self insurance.

You would take out a cheap 3rd party plus property policy which would cover damage to other property but not cover your own car.

Just in case you run into a very expensive car.

 

You could put money away into a separate account to cover any repairs for your own car if they ever occur.

 

 

You would never do it for home building insurance in case your house burnt down or severely damaged.

 

Contents may be a possibility.

 

What if someone else drove their uninsured car into your expensive car? would you have a $50,000 plus fund?

[Parley]

True.

The more expensive your car is the greater the risk you have to accept and the greater funds you would need in reserve.

 

My car new cost me $36K but now 4 year old lucky if worth $15K

[Keith and Linda]

True.

The more expensive your car is the greater the risk you have to accept and the greater funds you would need in reserve.

 

My car new cost me $36K but now 4 year old lucky if worth $15K

so four years ago you would have needed $72,000, 36 to buy 36 just incase, insurance would work out a more financially manageable option for most folk.

[Guest]

Most people won't get back what they put in for insurance that is the nature of the game. For people like me and Keith it makes sense just because we would have to pay most of the amount in a surcharge anyway. For others I would get it as long as it didn't drastically stretch your finances.

 

Not all Doctors are of the same quality like any profession, can be well worth your while picking and choosing an esteemed Doctor if you need some kind of major surgery not to mention not having to wait your turn in the public system.

[Keith and Linda]

Most people won't get back what they put in for insurance that is the nature of the game. For people like me and Keith it makes sense just because we would have to pay most of the amount in a surcharge anyway. For others I would get it as long as it didn't drastically stretch your finances.

 

Not all Doctors are of the same quality like any profession, can be well worth your while picking and choosing an esteemed Doctor if you need some kind of major surgery not to mention not having to wait your turn in the public system.

 

When my brother got diagnosed with throat cancer he just phoned around all the specialist to get the one that could deal with him the soonest, ok he did get the list of names from his wife whom is a nurse and knew a few Dr's anyhow, but it is something you can do here more so than UK I believe.

[Parley]

so four years ago you would have needed $72,000, 36 to buy 36 just incase, insurance would work out a more financially manageable option for most folk.

 

If I was doing it I would probably want to have $5K in an account for repairs.

I would take the risk that I wouldn't be writing off the whole car.

[Loopylu]

I am suspecting that this number includes people who have 'extras' for dental etc or even including those who pay ambulance cover in which case it is a somewhat disingenuous statement from a government department. I would be surprised if they were outright lying.

 

Fortunately we don't need ambulance cover here as it is included in our rates bill.

 

 

Actually, it is recovered through your electricity bill..... Just being pedantic!

[Loopylu]

There's only an extra levy to pay if you are earning something like $180,000 a year for a family. If you are not earning this, which the OP is not, there is no tax saving.

 

OP, if your wife has been out of the country for a long time you can get her exempt from the loading as well. You just need to get a letter from immigration showing when she was out of the country, although I can't remember what it is called right now. We did this for my OH when we moved over so that he was exempt from the loading as well. He was in his late 40s when we moved and had been living in the UK for 13 years.

 

We did take out hospital cover to start with but decided after a while to cancel it. We figured that we didn't need it to save on tax and would struggle to pay any gap if we had any procedures so didn't think it was worth it. If anything does happen we will either have to manage on the public system or find the money to pay to go private.

 

Wow - it's scary how similar your story is to ours. We did the same as my Aussie husband moved to the UK in 1993 and was therefore able to avoid loading on his return to Oz in 2008. We have now ditched hospital cover (but kept the extras cover) as our income is now below the surcharge threshold and we couldn't afford the gaps. We had employer funded health insurance in the UK which actually covered the costs of any treatment. It's a shame Oz health insurance can't do the same.

[starlight7]

The private health cover here is a national disgrace because of the gap. Maybe one day they will cover everything but it is a long time coming. Have to say, though, that nearly everyone we know has private cover mainly because as you get older you find what they class as 'emergency' on public health is very limited so you have to wait..and wait. Even, as we have found out through friends, for cancer surgery.

[Parley]

Wow - it's scary how similar your story is to ours. We did the same as my Aussie husband moved to the UK in 1993 and was therefore able to avoid loading on his return to Oz in 2008. We have now ditched hospital cover (but kept the extras cover) as our income is now below the surcharge threshold and we couldn't afford the gaps. We had employer funded health insurance in the UK which actually covered the costs of any treatment. It's a shame Oz health insurance can't do the same.

 

Don't you mean it's a shame Aussie employers can't do the same ?

[Parley]

The private health cover here is a national disgrace because of the gap. Maybe one day they will cover everything but it is a long time coming. Have to say, though, that nearly everyone we know has private cover mainly because as you get older you find what they class as 'emergency' on public health is very limited so you have to wait..and wait. Even, as we have found out through friends, for cancer surgery.

 

There is a mix of plans to choose from with each provider (basic, mid, top etc) which vary the gap and excess ?

The more expensive plans will cover more.

[Quoll]

I like the idea of self insuring though. If you put your $3K premium in a savings account each year after 5 years you have $15K saved and may never need to have any operation.

@Quoll if you self insure and say I'll pay for the cost myself, can you still get the operation in 6 weeks.

I presume you should be able to.

Yup, if you say you will foot the bill, they will slice and dice

[LKC]

We don't have health insurance, even though our family income is above the threshold for the Medicare surcharge. As I am over 40 and OH is approaching 40, and we hadn't realised that you had to take health insurance out within a year of gaining PR, we now get hit with the lifetime loading which would add a significant amount to our health insurance premium. For example, I recently had a look with a few insurers at their basic family policies (we have two kids), and with the loading we would be paying in excess of $4000 per year for health insurance. We would get a small rebate on the premiums (about $260 I calculated on the ATO website), but the insurance is still much more than the extra Medicare surcharge that we have to pay over and above the levy that everyone pays.

 

I think along the same lines as Parleycross in this respect. I'd rather put that money into a savings account/off the mortgage and effectively self-insure, with the intention of making a withdrawal from that fund if/when we ever need to use it. That seems to make more sense than having a basic but expensive policy and being hit with out of pocket expenses anyway.

[Loopylu]

Don't you mean it's a shame Aussie employers can't do the same ?

 

No - I meant that Oz insurers should cover the total cost of treatment with no gaps. Yes, it would be nice if Aussie employers paid for health insurance but as private health is so prevalent here there is no need for them to offer it as a perk.

[akiralx]

Car insurance is another candidate for self insurance.

You would take out a cheap 3rd party plus property policy which would cover damage to other property but not cover your own car.

Just in case you run into a very expensive car.

 

You could put money away into a separate account to cover any repairs for your own car if they ever occur.

 

 

Car insurance is really to cover you in case your driving results in a highly paid surgeon (or sportsperson?) in a wheelchair. The policy payout there would make a Ferrari seem like chump change...

[akiralx]

No - I meant that Oz insurers should cover the total cost of treatment with no gaps. Yes, it would be nice if Aussie employers paid for health insurance but as private health is so prevalent here there is no need for them to offer it as a perk.

 

Yes, the current situation leads to the scenario often cited on these pages, where someone pays for health insurance to avoid the medicare surcharge - but when requiring treatment find the gap too large and so has the treatment on the public heath system. So the insurer is receiving premiums but the policyholder will never claim!