Hi All,
Sorry for the random nature of this post but keen on a wide range of opinions. Looking to increase the family by 1 and looking to explore a new health care provider as the current one suggest an increase of $100/ fortnight simply by adding birth and pregnancy.
Any suggestions on good providers for family health care. See Random but i know the blitz is a place for wide ranging views and well since trade week has been a little light on, I figure now is a good chance.
Thanks in advance.
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We have no idea if they are any good or not because Iāve never really claimed anything in the 5 years we have been with them but we have Top Cover with Medibank and no doubt we are overpaying but itās there in case of emergency
Defence Health are top notch, couple of quirks to get your head around. Pregnancy cover with some extras, comes in at just under $500 per month.
Use this search comparison tool, very handy and will give you unbiased results.
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Weāre with Bupa and same as acemans post. Never made more than a couple of small claims (glasses, physio, standard dental)
The problem is they keep changing the policies and whatās in them. Our policy is no longer available, but we stay on it because itās no frills and we figure we will pay cash for anything over (major dental).
I hear the defence or teachers/police union ones are the ones you want to get on, if you can.
Just on Bupa to avoid the levy thing, in reality the only thing I really use is dental and my trusted lifelong family dentist said itās all a beat up and not worth a damn but here we are anyway
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Agree Defence Health are very good. They are a restricted fund though, so not everyone can join
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Yeah itās a total rort.
I went through the process of investigating the current policies, but staying with Bupa.
Essentially Iāll pay more fees, but I can claim more, but Iāll still have to pay some gaps, so Iām actually paying a lot more.
Plus I went to the āBupa Platinumā dentist. The filling fell out while I was still sitting in the chair, so she put another one in, and she told me it will likely fall out in a couple of weeks. āOk, thanks, I guess. Thanks Bupaā
I have had the worse experience. I needed spinal fusion surgery but had mid level hospital cover because we were all healthy. My health rapidly deteriorated and because it was mid cover I had no coverage for the procedure because the titanium screws needed top level cover.
So was stuck with waiting 12 months and paying the additional premium and have the surgery or pay cash - $60K.
I went home on tears because I was in so much pain and the thought of 12 more months was horrendous.
I give a dig about MrHeff and his Collingwood supporting ways, but he immediately said we pay cash and 3 days later I was in hospital and made an incredible recovery.
So thatās a long story to say for me, Iāve been burnt by private health insurance so my choice is go full coverage or no coverage and cop the medicare rebate.
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i had an odd situation a couple of years ago where upon sheer luck and good timing i managed to get surgery done through the public system. but fk me if it wasnāt a fight at every stage to not include my insurer which would have added an extra stage of stuffing around when there was no need for them
(iām with aus unity which suits me as a gentleman of leisure but from what i understand is no good for the original posterās situation)
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I like a fund where you can call them and they pick up the phone within a few minutes. Peoplecare have been great that way. Quick to get an answer every time. And you need to ask questions before it happens to make sure youāre covered when it happens. Forget Extras - waste of money.
HCF has worked for us. Top level hospital cover but no extras. Pick up the phone and talk with them, they can work out the best cover for you.
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I have Frank.
Pay for hospital cover because insurance is for those big rare occurrences.
Donāt have any extras, I believe itās better to pay those upfront in total.
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Depending on which surgeon did the operation, you might be lugging around some of the hardware I used to sell.
Sorry you had to go through that process, but sounds like a good surgical outcome.
We do the same. Initially had extras with HCF but not used them and in any case dental and optical do not give much back.
Have an excess of $700 in any one year, choice of hospital and doctor. Over past 12 years have had a number of hospital stays for both Mrs Fox and I, all at St John Of God in Ballarat, with very little out of pocket expenses.
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HBF
I worked for Medibank for a bit. I would find your obstetrician first and find out who they prefer. Out of pocket costs change depending on who they have agreements and relationships with. Some have gapcover to reduce costs.
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Reading through all these posts, how many billions are getting wasted by paying all these insurance companies to maintain their bureaucracies, pay their fatcat CEOs and divert $ from the healthcare system to their shareholders? And all supported by the Tories punishing anyone not complying with extra tax, just so we can get more like the terribly inefficient USA system.
@simmo41 is right - the public health system does provide a good service but the trick is to get it without the slug of private āinsuranceā.
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He was the best. Canāt complain about him or the outcome. Just ā ā ā ā that Iāve had private health insurance my whole life and when I needed it it was ā ā ā ā ā ā ā useless.
That is not a bug, itās a feature.
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