Captain Roberto Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 Hey all We've been out here 2 years now and so far haven't had health cover. (We are permanent residents) I guess we are just old school and my wife used to work for the NHS, so we are set in our ways. We both now have pretty decent jobs and we get these Medicare levys. My wife gets. 1.5% levy and I think I'll get a 2% levy next year. So - it seems like it would make sense if we got cover. I don't think we need it for our 3 kids too as Medicare provides more free stuff for them. So - if anyone has any tips, please let me know. I literally know nothing here and want to understand what's what. Thanks in advance! Matthew Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 We looked into this when we arrived. It is worthwhile paying now, because if you join when you are much older, the costs are astronomical. It is also tax effective for us. We have gone for family as well because the kids wear glasses and are likely to need orthodontic treatment. I used iSelect - http://www.iselect.com.au/ good way to narrow down an extremely extensive field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themaccas Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 You will find it expensive now if you are over 30 and or have been here over 12 months. The government gives you one year grace when you emigrate so you can join a private health care fund within 12 months from when you arrive with no additional levies. We did that and we had to get a letter from immigration to provide our insurance company with proof that we were within the 12 month window. After the 12 months, the levies rise substantially. We have family cover with Bupa and have found it really good we have a concessional rate through my employer so I think we get a good deal comparing against others. See if your employer has a preferred health fund which would give you concessional rates, it's really worth doing and you may save some money that way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 As said above, you've missed the 12 month window and will now have the loading if over 30. We have private cover and took it out at 11 months in to avoid the loading. We always planned to get it anyways on top of the ambulance cover (do you live in a state where this is covered? If not it's worthwhile having that for all of you if nothing else). We scaled back our cover from the top level a while back. Had been paying almost $200 a month iirc now pay $120 or so for us all, including ambulance cover. Also factor in the salary and the extra Medicare levy some pay if earning over a certain amount. We prefer to pay for private than the extra Medicare levy. There are plenty of other options so shop around and see what they offer. Many of the extras you may never use or use for a short time. Tbh if you have 3 kids I'd be saving for possible dental work in their teenage years. Braces cost a small fortune and if one or more end up needing them, you could be needing to find thousands. Not sure insurance will cover the entire cost or if it would be cost effective way to pay for it or part of it. We are preferring to pay up front if and when ours needs braces as on the plan we would have only had part of the cost covered and not much at that iirc. And after say a decade of paying for the policy before actually using the kids dental I dont know it's worth the cost. So we opted to not have dental cover at all. Having paid private dental in the UK on occasion I am familiar with its costs and so find the Aus system along similar lines price wise but appreciate the NHS costs and how cheap it was. School dental programme is handy for kids here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themaccas Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Yep agree with dental! Costs are off the scale, our oldest son had all his orthodontist work done on the NHS, our daughter came to Aus with braces but still needed the second half of the work done ($5500), our youngest has just started and his teeth aren't that bad, just crooked on one side and no overbite to sort out but it is still costing $7800. Bupa have paid $1600 towards the cost, and the rest we pay monthly to the dentist over 18 months, we did not have to apply for the payment plan it was offered at the initial appointment. You won't be expected to front up fees, our daughters costs (different orthodontist) were paid exactly the same way. Bupa pays the cost of two annual checkups for the kids so their checkups are 'free' within the health fund. We have top family cover at $300 a month but we definitely get a lot of use out of it especially the extras (dental/physio/opticians etc)Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collie Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 (edited) Ok, so everybody pays the Medicare levy (2%) regardless (if you are eligible for Medicare which as PR you are). There are a couple of extra things that may come into play for you. Below is an attempt at Private Health Insurance 101. Additional Medicare levy: If your earnings are >$90k(single) or $180k (family) and you do not have PHI (just hospital) you will be liabile for an additional Medicare levy (think is is 1%). Age loading: For those who take out PHI for the first time over the health age of 30, your premium will be loaded by 2% pa for each year over Health age of 30 when you first take it out. i.e. if you are 33, you will pay an extra 6%. You pay the loading for 10 years and then it goes. Your health age is the age you are when you first arrive as PR (eg if you arrive at 40 and take out PHI within 12 months you won't pay the loading and have a health age of 30). Tax rebate: Again, depending on your income, your premium may be eligible for a tax rebate of between 0% and 30%. Your fund can do this at source if you like by reducing your premium or it will just come into the calculations at tax return time (if your income is variable, it will balance up in your return anyway). Policies: PHI generally comes in 2 policies - Hospital and Extras(aka Ancillary). All funds sell them separately but try to package them but it is 2 policies. You hope you never have to use Hospital, it is for when things go wrong (apart from pregnancy) and you need an operation etc. Extras normally have annual limits and you should use it as much as possible, it covers Dental, physio, Opticians etc They will include Ambulance. You can also buy an ambulance only policy which is pretty cheap. Funds: Your employer may have a corporate plan with one of the providers so ask about that. The big players are Medibank private, BUPA, NIB, HCF, HBF nd then there are a range of smaller funds. All will have a range of plans with different levels of cover. If you are done having kids, make sure to exclude obstetrics to reduce your premium (public system is pretty good for this anyway). Prices will depend on what state you are in. If you are in WA, HBF may be best as they are the biggest player in WA (50% market share) and have more provider choice than the others. The others are probably better for the East Coast. You can go to a broker who looks across funds, note that they are not always an independent as they claim to be and are paid by commission. Hope this helps Edited July 16, 2017 by Collie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Thanks for the tips. Especially the '101' We did look into this kind of thing when we arrived. But in the initial stages other things seemed to take priority. And here in sydney there was never spare money as it all goes on rent! It's just changed as I have moved from freelance to salary. And my wife has a better paid job now. Our combined wages are over $200k so it seems we'd pay a higher levy. But I'm now 46 and my wife is 42 so we might pay a lot of extra charges. I can get Bupa with 5% off through my work (not huge but better than nothing) Our kids will all need some orthodontic work. Our eldest has been getting this for the last 1 months and it's $10k paid in instalments. All money isnt it! It seems you pay one way or the other. And our other 2 willNeed work too. Our kids all get here get the standard dental work through Medicare here and it's a good service. I think that's available to all under 16s kids with PR or citizenship. I don't think this is widely advertised but it's free with Medicare. Sounds like we'll need to ask a financial advisor or something to work out what's the money cost effective way to do it. I have seen articles on this that say that private health cover isn't great value. I guess it depends on level of cover. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher1 Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 I'd be interested to know how health care cover works for people retiring to Australia on a PR visa, if anyone can explain? It seems very complicated ... All I've grasped so far is that you need ambulance cover... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collie Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 50 minutes ago, Captain Roberto said: Thanks for the tips. Especially the '101' We did look into this kind of thing when we arrived. But in the initial stages other things seemed to take priority. And here in sydney there was never spare money as it all goes on rent! It's just changed as I have moved from freelance to salary. And my wife has a better paid job now. Our combined wages are over $200k so it seems we'd pay a higher levy. But I'm now 46 and my wife is 42 so we might pay a lot of extra charges. I can get Bupa with 5% off through my work (not huge but better than nothing) Our kids will all need some orthodontic work. Our eldest has been getting this for the last 1 months and it's $10k paid in instalments. All money isnt it! It seems you pay one way or the other. And our other 2 will Need work too. Our kids all get here get the standard dental work through Medicare here and it's a good service. I think that's available to all under 16s kids with PR or citizenship. I don't think this is widely advertised but it's free with Medicare. Sounds like we'll need to ask a financial advisor or something to work out what's the money cost effective way to do it. I have seen articles on this that say that private health cover isn't great value. I guess it depends on level of cover. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk At that salary level, it is worth having PHI. What you pay in premiums you will save in additional taxes. Your "health age" will depend on exact dates but probably 32 (2 years as PR in Oz) so you will pay a 4% loading for 10 years and then it goes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Thanks@collieSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen40 Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Glad I came across this post. Plenty of info. Thanks Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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