Phil & Vikki Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hi All, I was just wondering if anyone can share their experiences with me. Our family (me, hubby and 2 young children) moved over to North Sydney last year and are settling in to the aussie life style well. We've not sorted out private health insurance yet but need to soon before our first year is up or we then have to pay the extra government loading fee. We are looking to expand our family and have another baby next year hopefully. We've been to many health insurance places and really only want to have the basic cover, although we are not a low income family we can't really afford the $300 plus a month to have the top cover which includes all the maternity benefits. The woman in HCF looked at me in horror when i said i was happy to use the public hospitals and doctors/midwife's and wasn't bothered about choosing my own doctor! Having had 2 children using the public system in the uk i don't mind sharing a room for a day or so after i've given birth and i am sure that the facilities and doctors here are more than adequate to look after me and the baby. I'm sure there are millions of you out there that have used the public system but just wanted to know what you thought? What costs did you incur during your pregnancy, scans, blood tests, do you have to pay for pain relief etc? Or is top cover health insurance a recomended must have when having a baby? We are lucky enough to have found a doctor that does bulk billing so some of our costs will already be covered by that. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appriciated. Cheers, Vikki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 We have health insurance (mainly for financial reasons since we earn over the medicare surcharge limit, and I'm shortsighted so actually use the extrascover, works out cheaper to have the insurance. We will be looking at starting a family reasonably soon, but have decided not to up the insurance cover for pregnancy. Like you I don't mind sharing a room, from stories on here the pregnancy care is great in the public system, and even in private care, there's no guarantee that the doctor who's seen you through the pregnancy won't be on leave when you give birth. I'd also rather be in a public hospital with decent emergency/intensive care facilities, just in case. (who me? paranoid? never...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy Robinson Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hi, I had my daughter delivered via C-section in the public system 9 months ago, No problems what so ever. My pregnancy was high risk and my treatment before, during and after my pregnancy was fantastic. I have private health insurance with maternity benefits, and still chose to go public, because by time you've paid for your obstetrician $2500 after medicare rebate. (roughly $5000, before rebate). Scans and blood tests, another $500 out of pocket. Just didn't seem justifiable for me, especially as I was told they don't guarantee your own room, basically you get one if there is one available if not you go to the shared room anyway. I was also told they don't guarantee the same OB but try to make sure you see the same team 95% of the time. In the public system I paid for 2 lots of bloods at $75 each, and I had a early dating scan and 12 week scan which cost $275 each but got half back after Medicare rebate. Once I was booked in at the maternity hospital at 14 weeks pregnant, bloods and scans were free. I also saw the same midwife and doctor. So for me using my health insurance would of been a waste of $3000. So all in all going private to me seems a waste of money, when the public system here is excellent anyway. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsty M Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I had my baby 14 months ago in the public system and it was totally fine. We had private insurance but it didn't cover pregnancy and it seemed to me that you gained very little from going private, you could choose your doc and possibly get your own room. I was too late in being referred to my local hospital to go under the public midwife system, so I saw an obstetrician privately but was still able to have a public birth in my local hospital. The birth itself was a bit problematic but not down to the care I received. I had an emergency c-section and ended up with my own room, as these are allocated based on need (at least this is the philosophy in the hosptial I went to). I had to pay for my obs appointments but I claimed part of these back from medicare and I paid for a few scans, some of which I got back also. I am pregnant again and will be having a public birth in the same hospital. I phoned to book in this time as soon as the stick gave me a positive reading...yes, the hospital is that busy! This time I will only pay for my 12 week scan and part of the down syndrome testing. Some people I know went to private hosptials in the city and then after uncomplicated births stayed a night or two in a flash hotel. I didn't want to have to travel to the city whilst in labour, especially if things happened during peak traffic and I think a flash hotel would have been lost on me to be honest. I'm based in Melbourne though, but some friends of mine have had babies in Sydney in the public system and also had very good experiences and care. Best of luck, I think you can have good and bad experiences under either system. I did lots of research on forums and it seemed very mixed so didn't see the need to go private. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ClaireL Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hi Vikki, I am currently pregnant and have decided to go through the public system. I have actually paid for the higher level of health insurance since arriving here in 2009 becuase lots of Australians my husand and I spoke with advised us to do this. However, on getting pregnant and making an appointment with a private obstetrician, I found out his out of pocket costs were $3,300 after the medicare rebate and my insurance cover. On top of that, had I had any drugs while delivering, I would have had additional costs. On top of that, if I'd ended up having a C-section, then there would have been a second Doctor assisting the delivery, an anesthetist and a paediatrician all involved which would have meant I incurred further costs. (I know someone who this happened to and she was out of pocket $12k!) You then have to pay somethin like $500 excess on your insurance for the hospital (or something - I stopped listening after a while) and your obstetrician may dictate where you have your scans and blood tests done which may mean more cost to you. After hearing all this, I decided to gpo public and am really happy so far (although I've not close to delivering yet, I'm not really bothered which Doctor is there at the birth). I see my GP for most of my ante-natal appointments and as I have a really good relationship with her (she's also my boss), it's nice to have the same Doctor for every appointment. As she is my bioss, she got just as excited as I did when we got to listen to the baby's heartbeat for the first time! We have lots of patients come through our Clinic who have their babies at public hospitals and you don't hear any complaints from them (and trust me, if there were complaints to be heard, we would hear them!). Additionally, I agree with what RockDr also said - I'd rather be at a hospital with all the mod-cons in emergency equipement - if you go private and there is something seriously wrong, you may end up having a 20 minute ambulance ride over to the public hospital. If that happens, I know I'd rather have someone there immediately! Good luck with it! Claire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bifffo Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I'm currently 7 months pregnant and using the public system and couldn't rate it higher (though this is my first pregnancy so I can't compare the level of care with the uk). We're out in central queensland so options are pretty limited, but the only thing we've had to pay for is the nuchal transleucency scan (and that was only because it was optional as we aren't high risk, otherwise we'd have had a rebate). I've had two other scans and four blood tests, so far all covered by medicare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil & Vikki Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hi All, Thank you so much for all your reply's. It would seem that public is the way to go. Like most of you have said its better to be in a hospital that has everything to meet your needs, and i'm sure that the care doesn't vary too much from state to state. As as long as there is a doctor there when the vital moment comes, i'll be in too much pain to care if its the same doctor i've been seeing all along. You've all be really helpful. Good luck to all of you with the new arrivals! Vikki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 You can go into a public hospital as a private patient. You have your own doctor and it doesn't cost you a cent. Had my 4 that way, many moons ago. Private hospitals were virtually unheard of then. One of my daughters in law is going private - her first. Brilliant hospital. Their med bens pays for all in hospital expenses, only thing they have to pay is the obstetrician Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 So what would the benefit/difference be of being a private patient in a public hospital rather than a public patient? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 So what would the benefit/difference be of being a private patient in a public hospital rather than a public patient? In my daughter in laws case there would be no benefit as the a care and environment would be of a lesser quality. Apart from having your own doctor none. I spent 4 days recently as a private patient in a public hospital never again. One of the worst experiences of my life! No private wards anymore and the wards have men and women in them. Didn't pay for any procedures - oh, I got a free TV!!!! Never again. Private hospital is the way to go these days it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Calliope Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 A private patient in a public hospital (how I had my first ) gets her own room and most importantly her own doctor. If that doesn't matter to you, you might as well go public. Having gone private with #1, public with #2 (unexpected!) I went back to private with #3. I really didn't like the battery hen feeling of being a public patient (seeing a different doctor on each clinic visit, not knowing who would be with me when I delivered... I started to feel like I had to sort of sling my legs apart for any random person who came past dressed in scrubs) There's nothing wrong with the public sector. You will be looked after and so will your baby. But giving birth is a highly emotional moment in your life. I prefer to do it attended by someone I actually know.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Private used to be ok in the good old days when you got covered for everything. These days though you need to have loot in the bank for the extras. Just come out of hospital after seven days, private hospital, very nice, good care, now to pay the $4,000.00 over the top fees to the surgeon, his assistant, the anaesthetist, physio, drugs, etc etc etc. So if the hip pocket is going to take a hit then go public. If anything really serious occurs you just get transferred to public anyway. My dad had an op, top private health, that night the surgeon said we cannot look after him here so into the public he went. I had both of my children private in a public hospital at the time, we had nice small ones around then and it was very good. Not the same now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsty M Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 There was no benefit to being a private patient for me. I would have been prioritised for a private room but not guaranteed one, as in my hospital they are given out based on need (i.e. emergency c-sections and other problems). Also I had a private obstetrician, but in the end he didn't even deliver my baby as he came early and he was off for a few days. This time under the public midwife scheme I will at least know several of the midwives and the obstetrician who oversees the program. I was surprised how little you really get to know your obstetrician (even though he was private and I , maybe just my experience. I was also surprised at how little your front bottom is actually on show...sorry but I was. Just a few checks to see how dilated you are. I was pleasantly surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDC Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I had my daughter at the Royal North Shore via the public system 7 years ago, and couldn't fault the care. I think the only thing we paid for was an early dating scan, and the nuchal fold as I wasn't in a high risk category, but we got half of that back on both occasions. I needed to be induced very quickly, had every drug going, had a private room (more by luck than anything) afterwards and did not pay any additional costs. I saw the team of midwives at the hospital for all my appointments so had familiar faces around me when it was all going a little pear-shaped. I had pretty good care having my second in the UK as well, so I wouldn't really worry. Most people I have known who did have maternity cover with private health insurance, still had quite a few gaps to pay for. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sally04 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I live in Melbourne and had my baby in the public system 20months ago. Most of my Aussie friends have had private births as they have longstanding health insurance and it seems to be the thing to do here if you have cover. Being from the uk I had no issues with a shared room etc as I see this at the norm! My care was great I was able to get onto the midwife led program and although I saw a different midwife at most appointments they were all lovely. All scans / blood tests etc. bulk billed. I suppose if you can afford it then why not go private and have a nice room, although not sure if the care you receive is any better. You just want a quick and least painful birth at the end of the day! IMO, money might better spent getting paid help after the birth such as a night nanny / cleaner a few times a week etc..If you're a long way from family then this might be money well spent (or use the money to fly out your mum!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thanks for posting your experiences - this has been really reassuring for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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