Health insurance - to have or not to have???

[The[cookie]Doctor]

Although I am worried how we will continue to afford it while I am not at work, we signed up with Australian Unity with Hospital, Extras and mid-range excess and with the rebate applied I am paying $86 a week. It IS a lot, but when I thought about the benefits from dental alone it is totally worth it! My DH family has a string of health problems including sleep apnea and it covers CPAP machines, taking all those things into account - even though they are really only 'potential' issues it made it worthwhile for us.
That and oh I have been putting off seeing a chiro for years so if paying for PHI actually encourages me to see one - I see it as a good thing.
I really struggled to convince my husband but his parents always had cover so he was a little easier to bring around. Mine never did (but does now) and with one ambulance trip and two dental appointments in the space of a month, mums yearly premium just paid for itself.

And as MD said - I believe it is over the age of 30 you pay an additional 2% per year over 30 for your cover.

[Trillian]

I think it makes it harder to see the necessity of having it when you are well and lets face it, no one likes to think that they could have a serious medical issue where you need immediate treatment. I admit that if DH wasn't getting it paid for by work then we more than likely not have it, but we would be really struggling to pay for a lot of the things we really need like glasses, dental etc. Where I live there is a publicly funded dental clinic for kids, but she isn't a dentist, only a dental technician which means that her skills are limited. We used to take DD1 to see her all the time when she was a preschooler, but it got to the point where she needed better treatment because the public dentist just wasn't cutting the mustard so to speak. But now that we have the PHI, I don't think we will be without it again. I'm not sure how much it costs us because it is a corporate package for the company he works for and the premiums are hugely dicounted, but it would be costing us around $5000-6000 per year if we paid for it ourselves. This is with GUHealth. I don't know if once you stop working for them if you can continue paying it at the amount that the company pays or if it will revert to a normal policy.

[Olive]

DC i think its around 32-33

[Cranky Kitten]

Oh and if you do drop the PHI - unless you're in QLD where it's covered, keep your ambulance cover!! As someone who has had the bill come in for a very short ambulance trip (less than 1km) to be over $800, I can vouch for the usefulness of ambulance insurance.

[*EJ*]

Thanks ladies.

Cranky kitten i pay ambulance seperately Would never do away with that one.

Miss E that is definatley incentive to keep it going because we've hit the 32 year old mark

I just got off the phone and turns out that the hospital cover i have only allows us to be a private patient in a public hospital with still a very limited list of Dr's to choose from. And as the lady put it quite an expensive cover for not much cover at all. She said it's the one people often take to avoid the extra surcharge at tax time, the high income one which is definately not us. How uninformed am i !!?!? So she is posting out some brochures of our best options of extras only or hospital and extras so i can sit and discuss it with DH. We already pay full price for a couple of things that we could benifit from having extras so i really want to look at having them somehow.

You have all helped me a lot. Thank you

[Olive]

with mine im covered as a private paitent in a public as well as private in private but a shared room only

[Jennifer13]

I'm young, healthy, etc too and I've been in an ambulance three times and attended an ambulance station one more time for treatment. Most of those happened while I was a teenager (head injury that required stitching, broken and dislocated fingers, serious abdominal pain, sun stroke), so not just something that applies to adults. All were acute and couldn't have been predicted. My DD has once required the ambulance when she got a bad cut to the head as a six week old which was bleeding heavily.

One time when the ambulance was called for me, I wasn't in a state to object. For that trip I received the bill (which I then passed on to my PHI, I was too out of it to give it to them at the time), it was about $400 from memory, and that was for 15 mins drive with no medical procedures at all. Literally being wheeled on and off the trolley and driven to the closest hospital. Another time after a car accident I refused ambulance attendance and got a friend to take me to the hospital to get checked (I had concussion). Really, i would have been far better off not freaking out about the ambulance cost because I had forgotten to renew my subscription and getting medical attention much more quickly. I had rolled the car down an embankment and didn't even realise I was that banged up until well afterwards.

[Miss E]

As a young, healthy person with a family that also lives in a major capital city, I also don't expect to need an ambulance for an illness related issue.

But DH and I drive a car almost every day, cross the road several times a day, have a toddler who loves to climb, who despite all my child proofing efforts could possibly get his hands on something poisonous (at home or at someone elses home), who falls over all the time, who doesn't look where he is going, who plays on playground equipment at the park, my house probably has spiders that I haven't seen... You get the idea.

Every day, just going about our daily lives we are at risk of seriously injuring ourselves. Yes the odds are low, but they're real. I've been in 6 car accidents in my life, none of them have been serious enough to require an ambulance, but gee everyday there are many, many others who aren't so lucky. What's to say, me or DH or DS won't be one of them one day. Whose to say that won't happen out in the country where an air ambulance is needed?

But like you said, you're willing to take the risk and could pay the bill if you needed to. I get it. We could also pay the bill if we had to, but I'd rather pay $100 a year and support the ambulance service (whether I need it or not) and know that if I think I might need it, I'll use it rather than take my chances and drive us to hospital.

Again JMO

[Cherished]

It's one of those topics where everyone has an opinion and in the end it just comes down to you and your family and what you are comfortable with. For us it's a must have and we would make other cuts in our budget before we'd let the health insurance go. Our birth experience private was fantastic and we've both had other operations at the same hospital too. a few months back I had another injury and am thankful beyond measure that I can have an operation without waiting too long and with the surgeon of my choice. As it is we are putting off ttc again as I need the operation and there is no way I could handle another pregnancy the way things are. It's not that serious though as far as the public system is concerned, I'd be waiting a loooong time for the surgery and my heart would be very sad that ttc a 2nd baby could be years away not months.

[misty]

We don't have PHI. (my parents have never had it either).

We have looked into it a number of times, but financially it really just does not make sense for us. We have access to most of the services we use for free with medicare, whereas if we had PHI, we would have to pay for those same services, and be out of pocket even with the rebates. Generally we have been very happy with the public system and have no reason to change (being in very good health).

With my Gallstones, it did take me 3 months waitng for my operation, which wasn't the nicest - but I felt comfortable with the knowledge that if it had of been 'life-threatening' (or some such) I would have received emergency treatment ASAP. Which is kind of the veiw I have with aany unforeseen 'emergency'. Also, I have the comfort of knowing that although we are not exactly 'flush' with money, if something arose and we didn't want to wait on the public waiting lists for whatever reason, we have the ability and resources to draw upon to fund most things ourselves. Of course it wouldn't be ideal financially to do so, but the odds are with us that we will never need too.

We have looked at PHI specifically for the 'extra's', but again it doesn't make sense for us. For example, Dental generall has a cap on how much they will rebate you and what for - we far exceed most of these caps, or the premiums don't make it worth it for us.

Many people have told me that I should at least have ambulance cover - but I have never in my entire life needed an ambulance, and if the need actually arose where one was required, I have the funds (or access to funds) to pay the debt - and I would still be better off financially to pay when and if I used one: unless I suddenly planned on using an ambulance at least once a year.

So there is no "one answer fits all" for the question of whether PHI is worth it. It very much depends on your personal financial situation and where you live.

[Miss E]

Many people have told me that I should at least have ambulance cover - but I have never in my entire life needed an ambulance, and if the need actually arose where one was required, I have the funds (or access to funds) to pay the debt - and I would still be better off financially to pay when and if I used one: unless I suddenly planned on using an ambulance at least once a year.

Ok, each to their own. But seriously, if you or one of your family members had to be airlifted by helicopter or whatever, you wouldn't be looking at $800. Probably more like $15,000 or $20,000. And the average trip in a road ambulance is something like $5,000. For $100 a year or whatever the ambulance cover is, I can't see how you would be financially better off even if you or your family only used it once in your life time.

Personally, I like having the security of knowing that I can call an ambulance at the drop of a hat - if something happens I won't be trying to weigh up if it is serious enough or not to require, I will just call.

JMO

[misty]

Ok, each to their own. But seriously, if you or one of your family members had to be airlifted by helicopter or whatever, you wouldn't be looking at $800. Probably more like $15,000 or $20,000. And the average trip in a road ambulance is something like $5,000. For $100 a year or whatever the ambulance cover is, I can't see how you would be financially better off even if you or your family only used it once in your life time.

Personally, I like having the security of knowing that I can call an ambulance at the drop of a hat - if something happens I won't be trying to weigh up if it is serious enough or not to require, I will just call.

JMO

Well, as with any insurance, it depends on your "sleep at night factor" (ie, feeling secure).

For me there are two parts to this.
1) the actual likelihood of me or my family actually needing ambulance services - which in itself is pretty small. And statistically even less likely to need air ambulance services. Of course there is a possibility, but given our personal circumstances (healthy, young, live in a Capital city with good medical facilities,etc), it is not very likely. Most people will go their entire lives without ever taking an ambulance ride.

2) Although $20k is not a small amount, IF the statistically unlikely were to happen, we are in a position where we could (and would) access the funds to pay it. Afterall, our lives are worth so much more then money.

I can sleep at night knowing this. It may seem like a gamble to you, but to me it is just risk analysis; just like I don't have pet insurance for my dogs and cats, and yet (given there is no animal medicare) they are much more likely to incurr medical costs which I cann't afford, then sny of my family members.

[Jellyfish]

We have looked into it a number of times, but financially it really just does not make sense for us. We have access to most of the services we use for free with medicare, whereas if we had PHI, we would have to pay for those same services, and be out of pocket even with the rebates. Generally we have been very happy with the public system and have no reason to change (being in very good health).

I'm curious because a few people have said things along these lines but how does having PHI diminish your ability to access Medicare related rebates/bulk billing etc? They have no impact on eachother as far as I've experienced or am aware of; isn't PHI essentially in addition to, not instead of? I do understand the premiums not being balanced by usage for different people and different circumstances but was just wondering about this side of things.

[Miss E]

We've got mid level hospital cover and the basic extras with Medibank Private and pay about $225 a month. It is a lot of money.

When we decide we're done having babies we will drop our hospital back to the basic level (only put it up to mid level to cover OB's). I too have wondered if it is really worth the expense at times... But because they have the lifetime healthcover (or whatever it's called) if you become a member before you're 30 and stay a member, you will never pay premiums any higher than what a 30 year old would pay. Because we're over 30, if we leave for a year or and then join up again our premiums will get higher and higher each year as we get older. But if we stick with it, they'll stay at relatively the same level. For me that was the clincher.

Olive, who are you with? that sounds like a great rate! I've been to iselect a couple of times, but always found that the plans they recommend are more expensive than what we've got

[jacklicky]

Im with Aust Unity and I really really dislike them. They are the most expensive and in the last three times i have called to enquire about claiming (with the codes from the DR) they have told me i am covered only to find out when I actually tried to claim I wasnt.

Not happy at all. I am going to change providers....but that said i would really look into the benefits you get from having PHI. Would you want to wait for surgery for you or your kids if you dont have to? Does DH's wage put him into the Medicare surchage area because although you still pay a levi....the surcharge on top of that can be huge (my Dh's was over $1000 from memory) so this itself can offset your payments... I know it is hard to come up with the money weekly but if you are going to have to come up with it at tax time you might as well get the benefits from it.

have you tried iselect or one of those kinda websites that compare all the health policies out there and can possibly get you a cheaper one...