Can someone tell me about healthfunds? pls

[nic]

I think you may need to be in a health fund for a set minimum amount of time before you can claim for something like braces?? I'm not sure it would come under the normal dental waiting period or a longer one? I suppose it could also differ from each fund.

If you are getting PHI for the braces only, you would have to weigh up the cost of the PHI and the refund you would get from them. You could end up paying more than you'll get back?

Another thing is if you have an idea of who would be doing your braces, ask around, see if anyone you know has been to them and see if they did a payment plan. When I had my braces as a teen, they did payment plans for everyone.. you just paid a deposit then the remainder over 12 months.

[Curly]

I wouldn't get private health insurance if you were only going to use it to claim for braces - you would pay more in fees than you would claim back. And you would have to serve a waiting period before you could claim...minimum of a year, I would be guessing.

I would also see if you can pay the orthodontist in instalments. That's what my parents did with us kids, I think it was $200 every second visit until the full fee was paid (this was a while ago though!!!) I'm sure most orthodontists would have different payment plans.

[shellbell3]

Extras may not even really cover braces that much, you will have to check on each health fund and in the long run you may end up paying more.
I've found with dental things and my fund I am still often out of pocket.
I would firstly get quotes on braces, friend of mine got quotes that varied quite a bit and secondly alot offer payment plans.

[smiles4u]

My sister's braces & plate cost her $12,000 all up and she paid it off in instalments ... to me that sounds expensive but then i have no idea !!

... She seemed to be very keen to stick with an orthodontist whom had updated techniques from the USA (which she did find one she was extremely happy with his service,etc .. )

[~Kim~]

I concur.
I had braces put on at 24. All up it cost $10 000. Thankfully paid in installments. I got less than $2000 back from PHI despite having had top cover since I left school.
The PHIs seem to be cutting more and more back for major orthodontic work. Our family cover only gave $1500 max per person per lifetime.

[nic]

I concur.
I had braces put on at 24. All up it cost $10 000. Thankfully paid in installments. I got less than $2000 back from PHI despite having had top cover since I left school.
The PHIs seem to be cutting more and more back for major orthodontic work. Our family cover only gave $1500 max per person per lifetime.

You're not wrong there kim! Our PHI, pays out $2500 per family member over a lifetime for orthodontics, BUT it is paid out at $500 per year max. It is set to change this year cut back some more while they up our premiums

[StrawberryMumma]

I looked into getting Invisalign (alternative to braces) a few months ago (as my teeth have moved since having braces as a teenager ) and spoke to our private health insurer about it. He told me there would be a 12 month waiting period and we would have to up our cover to just over double the fortnightly amount we pay now. That's all fine, except then I would only get about $500 back on the treatment. So it ended up not being worth it to take out the extra cover just to get such a little amount back.

Good luck!

[nic]

Oh, I just had a thought! Can't believe i didnt think of this before I watched a show last year sometime, about dental schools and how you can go along as a 'patient'. The story was about one in Brisbane...if you google for - university of qld dental school - then click on patient clinics for a read. they do orthodontic work too, and it is fully supervised Maybe have a search for one in your area??