Moving in Aug 2020

[Chiwy]

Hi All, 

we are planning to move to Adelaide sometime next Aug 2020. We are granted a 489 visa. There are a few questions which we are hoping to search for and appreciate anyone inputs .                    

- we were looking at living near city for a start while our job hunting continues. We came across STRATA law and that apartment owner generally don’t allow dogs. We are planning to bring our old buddy over and hoping to rent an apartment instead of house. Anyone has any advise on this or link to intro? Also are houses rent in general one year lease? 

-anyone staying at Norwood or slightly outskirts of city? Are there any suburb to be wary of?

- private health Insurance - any recommendation for company to look out for? We are also planning to start a small family but we are not surenif the private health insurance would cover 100% of the preg, including gp visits, ultrasound scans, blood test and etc. 

- jobs opportunity: we have been looking up on seek.com, indeed.com and currently there are no luck. My Husband is in the interior design line and I am doing investigation works on animal welfare and cruelty. Any one has any idea or intro for possible networking ? 

Appreciate any inputs or possible meet up when we move over thank you in advance. 

[llessur]

Welcome to the forum and best of luck with your move to Adelaide!

Mot sure about the specifics around rentals in units or apartments. I always thought it would be landlord/building specific but maybe someone more knowledgeable can help on this one.

I have good friends in Norwood and they love it - generally anywhere on the immediate eastern side of the city is considered a more upmarket place to live so you won't go wrong. Norwood has a nice centre with a UK-style high street/shopping strip (the Parade). If you could get within walking distance of that you'd appreciate it

Re: private health and pregnancy. No - you'll still end up with a sizable out of pocket bill ($1000+) for having a baby in the private system. Plus, you'll also need to take into account any waiting limits before you can claim for certain things - we investigated private health cover when we were thinking of having a baby and I think most policies had a 12 month wait period from signing up before you could access any pregnancy services.

We had out baby through the public system and couldn't have been happier with the experience. If you live in Norwood you'll probably end up at the Women's and Children's hospital in North Adelaide - it's the major hospital in SA for all things obstetric and pediatric so you won't go wrong. Side note: if you get classified as having a high-risk pregnancy you'll most likely be giving birth there anyway regardless of what private cover you have. We had a private room, great midwives and it didn't cost us a cent. The public system also covers all pregnancy-related ultrasound scans - and chances are you'll get them at a private hospital/provider anyway (we had all ours done at the private Calvary hospital). All blood tests are free through Medicare, regardless of whether they are pregnancy-related. GP visits you'll pay a small amount for (maybe up to $30 - but are free for kids).

My personal view is that you should think carefully and do some research on whether you will truly need private health cover at all - lots of younger people are dropping out of the system as they feel a) it is not value for money and b) their needs are and will be covered by the public system. Because of this, premiums are rising and the value of the policies gets lower. And so the cycle repeats. My understanding of the benefits of private cover are reduced waits for elective surgery (i.e. joint replacements etc), being able to choose your surgeon/doctor/obstetrician etc (being used to the UK system that doesn't bother me at all) and being guaranteed a private hospital room. It's also important to note that even with top tier private cover you'll most likely end up with a bill after any hospital stay as many things just aren't covered (such as dressings etc). 

Another argument for private insurance is the 'extras' cover you get - such as optical, dental, physio etc. However, the extras cover is a sizable monthly expense payable over your entire lifetime and the odds are that if you funded these things out of your own pocket in full you'd end up spending nowhere near as much money overall as the total insurance premiums anyway. There are also limits for individual and lifetime claims for some things so even with good extras cover don't expect all your dental work to be 'free' for life.

I think the sensible thing to do financially is to put aside the monthly cost of health insurance into a savings account and be very disciplined to never touch it. By the time you get older and need elective surgeries there'll be a very sizable pot there to fund any private ops you need - plus if you don't use it your kids will get it when you pop off. My wife and I have no privtae health cover - just ambulance cover for a hundred-odd bucks per year. We've been absolutely fine with the public system for the last 8 years and we're thousands of dollars better off for it.

The public system here is great and covers all emergency care, non-elective hospital visits etc. Unless you're particularity precious about being in a private room or who you get as a surgeon or obstetrician etc (which let's face it, we're in a highly-advanced country - they're all going to be just fine), private health cover just seems like a massive scam to me - people think they're getting stuff for free but forget they pay several thousand dollars a year for it up front.

I don't have any connection to either of those job areas unfortunately - but I'll ask around and report back if I hear of anyone 

Very best of luck with everything!

 

[Chiwy]

Hi llessur,

 

thanks for the info. Unfortunately under 489 visa, we are not entitled to Medicare. Thus, we need to look at private health insurance. I agree that the extra covers are taking up a lot of money and we might just skip that. We have also heard about the high ambulance costs so defo getting that covered as well. For the kiddo portion, we prob have to check w the insurance company for certain coverage as our migration agent was unable to advise. 

[Marisawright]

42 minutes ago, Chiwy said:

Unfortunately under 489 visa, we are not entitled to Medicare.

What is your home country?   If your home country has a reciprocal agreement with Australia, then you will be entitled to Medicare under that (though only for essential treatment).  

If you need private health insurance, then on a 489 visa you will need to take Overseas Visitor Health Cover.  Here's an example from one well-known company:

https://www.bupa.com.au/health-insurance/overseas-visitors-working-visa

Overseas Visitor health cover usually covers all costs, but it's more expensive than the health insurance available to ordinary Australians.   

The local health policy is like car insurance - there is always an excess to pay. 

[Chiwy]

We are from Singapore. We do not qualify for Medicare sadly. Have read up Bupa and it seems like it is one of the popular insurance for OSHC.prob have to call them to check if they covers preg related expenses.

[SPRINTER]

Make sure you read and understand all the small print, we have to have private insurance with our visa and originally went with BUPA who on renewal nearly doubled our premium and reduced what we were covered for and we had made no claims. There can be quite a difference between the bill and what they will pay.

[Chiwy]

I tried asking the bupa agent but the agent said it covers 100% coverage. Which policy did you purchase from Bupa ? On what basis did they double the premium?

[Chiwy]

I have been trying to Google around what Bupa don’t cover as I suspect there might be some stuff which insurance would not cover. Any idea ?

[SPRINTER]

We had the top cover for hospital and extras which seemed comparable to what we paid in our previous country. When they increased the premiums and reduced the cover available I went to the local office and it was like a football crowd with customers wanting to know what was going on, a lot of people were affected . I believe they amended some of their covers after this. If you Google BUPA and fill in the quote it gives you some idea of what is and is not covered. One of the main things we did not like was the fact Hospital doctors could charge what they wanted and the insurance would only cover up to a fixed limit, so could end up with a large excess if many doctors were involved.

[Marisawright]

6 hours ago, Chiwy said:

We are from Singapore. We do not qualify for Medicare sadly. Have read up Bupa and it seems like it is one of the popular insurance for OSHC.prob have to call them to check if they covers preg related expenses.

Ask them for the full cover details in writing 

[Chiwy]

The exclusion is quite general, it doesn’t give much details. I read that Bupa service for claim is quite bad. We are comparing Allianz and Bupa for now to see which one suit us better. I suspect they might just cover the same thing and the diff is the price per month. Oh I have a question, does any of these private insurance covers death? For example, in Singapore if I purchase a death insurance, they will give a pay out if the insurer died of accident. I could not find the info for private health insurance.

[Chiwy]

I will email them and ask them to give me in writing but then might send me the info link onine.  

[Marisawright]

8 hours ago, Chiwy said:

The exclusion is quite general, it doesn’t give much details. I read that Bupa service for claim is quite bad. We are comparing Allianz and Bupa for now to see which one suit us better. I suspect they might just cover the same thing and the diff is the price per month. Oh I have a question, does any of these private insurance covers death? For example, in Singapore if I purchase a death insurance, they will give a pay out if the insurer died of accident. I could not find the info for private health insurance.

Private health insurance only covers medical treatment. If you want death insurance it's a different type of insurance.

As a customer you're entitled to full disclosure of exactly what the insurance covers, so insist on it.  

[SPRINTER]

10 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Ask them for the full cover details in writing 

Agree with what Marisawright said, get it in writing, Insurance companies of all sorts are good at taking money but don't like paying out to freely.

[Skani]

On 04/12/2019 at 20:55, Chiwy said:

- private health Insurance - any recommendation for company to look out for?

This is the official government site for information on private health insurance in Australia:

https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/

Choosing is quite complex because there are multiple companies offering multiple options - they can  vary even according to the state in which you live.  This site has a  short questionnaire which you can fill in with the details relevant for you and your particular family situation and it will produce several options for you to compare:  link to it here - 

https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/dynamic/search/start

[Chiwy]

Thanks for all the info and help. I read a lot of bad reviews on Bupa, I think we will shop around for diff policy and insist on a writing from the company before committing. 

Re the private health website, once I choose that I do not have Medisave, it lead me to OVHC and it didn't have questionnaire. 

Anyone use Allianz insurance before? are they reliable?

[Soniah]

We are in same position with 489 and not being able to get medicare. I just read 489 has been replaced with 491 - which does get medicare!! 

We came over in September with our cat and did struggle with renting in units (they are the ones which have STRATA) 

Houses generally better option with pets as no STRATA

Take a look at domain.com.au and realestate.com.au for rental properties

[Marisawright]

On 07/12/2019 at 09:40, Skani said:

This is the official government site for information on private health insurance in Australia:

https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/

The questionnaire is only for Australian legal residents, so not applicable to the OP.

@Chiwy:  Allianz is a very large European insurance company.  I don't think you need to worry about "reliability" with any of the insurance companies offering this insurance in Australia, they are all governed by regulations and are all much the same.  The main thing to consider is how much they cost and what they cover.

Edited December 10, 2019 by Marisawright

[Chiwy]

Hi All, 

Thank you for all the info provided. I have been reading some bad reviews of Bupa but I will shop around to see what are our options. I would like to ask if anyone has used any relocation company to more their personal belonging from Singapore to Adelaide? if so, appreciate if you could share  the costing and which company used. We do not intend to move our furniture as we thot it would be a better idea to buy from Adelaide. 

[Chiwy]

On 10/12/2019 at 07:39, Soniah said:

We are in same position with 489 and not being able to get medicare. I just read 489 has been replaced with 491 - which does get medicare!! 

We came over in September with our cat and did struggle with renting in units (they are the ones which have STRATA) 

Houses generally better option with pets as no STRATA

Take a look at domain.com.au and realestate.com.au for rental properties

I read that we will not be eligible for Medicare despite the new 491 as our visa will still reflect as 489 . We are planning to move with our dog and am trying to look for apartment that allows small dog. 

[Chiwy]

@Marisawright I have been comparing the rates and after reading much review, we would go for hospital covers only, include ambulance. It seems like the extras are not worth paying. 

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Chiwy said:

@Marisawright I have been comparing the rates and after reading much review, we would go for hospital covers only, include ambulance. It seems like the extras are not worth paying. 

Just be aware that dental and optical services are quite expensive in Australia.   A routine dental checkup and clean can cost $200.   I recently had two crowns which cost nearly $4,000.    My multi-focal spectacles cost $700.  I have private health insurance so I didn't have to pay those full prices. 

However if you don't wear spectacles and  your teeth are in good condition, then extras cover is probably not worth it.

[starlight7]

I don’t think health insurers cover the cost of doctor visits, only hospitals. Not sure if a bulk billing place would cover you or not ,you would have to check. Some Drs charge a lot for an ordinary visit and the refund isn’t great so if you need to go to a GP with a cough or infection make sure you check this out.

[Marisawright]

12 minutes ago, starlight7 said:

I don’t think health insurers cover the cost of doctor visits, only hospitals. Not sure if a bulk billing place would cover you or not ,you would have to check. Some Drs charge a lot for an ordinary visit and the refund isn’t great so if you need to go to a GP with a cough or infection make sure you check this out.

The OP is looking at Overseas Visitors Insurance, NOT the health insurance Australians have.  

[Chiwy]

12 minutes ago, starlight7 said:

I don’t think health insurers cover the cost of doctor visits, only hospitals. Not sure if a bulk billing place would cover you or not ,you would have to check. Some Drs charge a lot for an ordinary visit and the refund isn’t great so if you need to go to a GP with a cough or infection make sure you check this out.

For oversea health insurance, outpatient fee are covered 100%MBS. I can’t seems to find how much is the MBS rates. The different rates that the insurance provides covers different percentage from 100-150% of MBS.