Angelini Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Morning all, My OH and I are talking about having a baby - not pregnant, or even trying, yet, but are trying to get as much information as we can about having a baby in Oz. I've been looking at going with Latrobe Health as they only have a 9 month waiting time, but that's just for actually giving birth ... what about antenatal care? Do I need to have different cover for that? I've been looking at pregnancy forums and most of them say they 'go public' for everything but giving birth - the problem is that I'm American (moved from the UK after 7 years with my English husband) so don't think I can be covered by Medicare, as far as I can tell. Does that mean that we will need to pay for all of the expenses ourselves? Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2tigers Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Have no idea, but I had all my check ups and gave birth in AU, all under medicare and had very good care. No complaints. In fact, I had a room to myself which was a bonus. Where some people on private can not even guarantee that. (Neither can medicare, but it shows its not guaranteed on either). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landv Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Morning all, My OH and I are talking about having a baby - not pregnant, or even trying, yet, but are trying to get as much information as we can about having a baby in Oz. I've been looking at going with Latrobe Health as they only have a 9 month waiting time, but that's just for actually giving birth ... what about antenatal care? Do I need to have different cover for that? I've been looking at pregnancy forums and most of them say they 'go public' for everything but giving birth - the problem is that I'm American (moved from the UK after 7 years with my English husband) so don't think I can be covered by Medicare, as far as I can tell. Does that mean that we will need to pay for all of the expenses ourselves? Thanks for your help! I really wouldn't bother with private healthcare for antenatal care only. "Going public" is just as good in my experience. I went public with all aspects of my pregnancy and was covered by Medicare and we're not citizens, but permanent residents. I received the very best care, private room, expectional antenatal and post-natal care. I only had to pay towards some of the scans and blood tests, the 12 week scan I had to pay for about $160, but half of it I got back from Medicare. Having said this, I would advise you though to get ambulance cover, especially when you're pregnant, because if you're not covered, it can set you back $800 should you need one, but I believe this is different in other states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Morning all, My OH and I are talking about having a baby - not pregnant, or even trying, yet, but are trying to get as much information as we can about having a baby in Oz. I've been looking at going with Latrobe Health as they only have a 9 month waiting time, but that's just for actually giving birth ... what about antenatal care? Do I need to have different cover for that? I've been looking at pregnancy forums and most of them say they 'go public' for everything but giving birth - the problem is that I'm American (moved from the UK after 7 years with my English husband) so don't think I can be covered by Medicare, as far as I can tell. Does that mean that we will need to pay for all of the expenses ourselves? Thanks for your help! Private health insurance covers costs of hospital admission. It has nothing to do with expenses incurred before or after your hospital admission and is irrelevant to these costs. Note the 9 month or 12 month waiting period is almost always the period you must have the insurance before the birth, not before getting pregnant, because it is the hospital admission that private health care covers. If you go private you will have to pay to see your Ob regularly before the birth and also pay them a once off pregnancy mgt fee which usually is a few thousand dollars plus. Medicare will refund a little of this I think. When admitted to private hospital you may have to pay a gap between the amount your private insurer covers and the Obs and Anesthetists fees. You can ask to be treated as a No Gap patient and if your Ob agrees, you can eliminate/reduce these gaps. If you have a permant residency visa you can go public instead. Or if you are on a temporary visa and your country of official residence has a repicrocal medical agreement with Australia. Eg you are enrolled in the NHS in the UK. Some advantages of going private might include: - you get to pick your own Ob who usually cares for you throughout. - you can choose an Ob who is highly regarded and experienced. - you can choose an Ob whose birthing philosophy matches your own. - avoid possibly getting relatively inexperienced Ob during birth. - on average you usually get to stay longer in hospital after the birth - 5 days. - far higher chance of private room and nice surroundings, bed for OH, wine at meals etc - less chance of being paired in a room with someone struggling to manage due to personal circumstances, drugs or whatever (this is a difference a midwife highlighted to me at the hospital a few weeks ago when I asked - obviously comes down to luck) Some advantages of going public might include: - far cheaper/almost free - usually more midwife lead throughout pregnancy which some prefer - less chance of having c-section which some prefer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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