PHI Rebate and Medicare Levy Surcharge

brainactive on 18/06/2016 - 21:12
Last edited 18/06/2016 - 22:13

Tax time is coming up, my taxable income for the year is around 100k and just realised that I'm going to be caught without any health insurance cover. So my questions are:

1) Is it too late to get some health insurance before year end? I suspect the answer is going to be yes but thought I might ask anyway.

2) What is the best health insurance policy given that my main aim is to minimise tax (I don't intend to use many of the benefits, mainly just dental/optometrist check up)? What company is cheapest for this purpose? Interested to hear experiences with whatever policy you guys have.

Poll Options

  • 1
    NIB
  • 0
    BUPA
  • 0
    iSelect
  • 0
    AHM
  • 0
    Frank
  • 2
    HIF
  • 6
    HCF
  • 3
    Other
Financial

Comments

  • SnoozeAndLose on 18/06/2016 - 21:15
    +1

    1) Is it too late to get some health insurance before year end? I suspect the answer is going to be yes but thought I might ask anyway.

    Yes as the Levy are calculate the number of days without pri health insurance.

    2) What is the best health insurance policy given that my main aim is to minimise tax (I don't intend to use many of the benefits, mainly just >dental/optometrist check up)? What company is cheapest for this purpose? Interested to hear experiences with whatever policy you guys have.

    They are all similar price, just with different bonus offers.

    • brainactive on 19/06/2016 - 08:15

      I've done a little bit of research and it seems that for the lowest level of combined Hospital + Extras cover, the annual premiums range from around $850 (BUPA) to $1070 (NIB).

      Anyone have any issues with BUPA before?

      • SnoozeAndLose on 19/06/2016 - 09:15

        I am with Bupa, they are ok as long as you go to their provider

      • jimbobaus on 19/06/2016 - 10:27

        I am a very happy Bupa customer
        you get full rebate at most doctors etc they only have "preferred providers" for extras (glasses etc)

        Also when you call them
        they often have discounts for super and unions etc

        i got a corporate plan (100% extras) because i had some super in AMP

        Paying less than the 80% extras plans being sold online etc

        • brainactive on 21/06/2016 - 20:51

          Thanks for the input guys. Any reason why we have to go through quotes to find out premiums? It would be very useful to see a price comparison website with a bunch of drop down menus (e.g. for age, income, marital status, gender etc.) which then outputs the premiums and conditions for each relevant policy. Curious as to why we are still dealing with archaic quotes…

  • CyberMurning on 18/06/2016 - 22:13
    -2

    yes too late. just sign up with the cheapest hospital cover as your income is too high, above average australian. so jealous! :)

  • spal on 19/06/2016 - 11:18

    If tax savings is the sole motivation, just go with hospital only cover, with very high co-payments and a number of exclusions and restrictions. Also if you are above 30 years, lifetime loading will apply, which is usually not included in the online quotes. BTW there is no loading for extras cover.
    I am with BUPA, I experienced that they are expensive and have a number of restrictive policies.

    • brainactive on 21/06/2016 - 21:10

      I don't suppose Ambulance only cover (https://www.hcf.com.au/insurance/health/get-a-quote/ambulanc…) would cut it? Is Hospital only cover as low tier as it gets in terms of the surcharge?

      • spal on 22/06/2016 - 05:20

        You need to have hospital cover to receive exemption from Medicare levy surcharge. Ambulance cover is another bells and whistles sold by insurance companies to get a little extra off a customer. This cover is pretty much useless as you are covered for emergencies only for a very limited number of transactions. Best would be to have a cover with Ambos directly in your state. It is a very useful cover to have.
        You can also use the complex tax calculator to work out how having or not having hospital cover will make a difference to your tax amount.

  • nikkidale on 20/06/2016 - 11:45
    +1

    Hi all.

    I hope it's ok to post here but I'm the Digital Manager for HIF and I just wanted to let you know that if you only want hospital cover to avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge, HIF offers the lowest priced policy in the country (GoldVital Hospital).

    I've attached some links below which may be useful and if you decide to join HIF before June 30, you can use the promo-code HIFOZ50 to get $50 bonus cashback (available on any policy, see http://www.hif.com.au/hifoz50).

    If anyone has any questions about HIF, the MLS or health insurance in general, please feel free to email me any time on [email protected]

    Cheers. :)
    Nikki

    • brainactive on 21/06/2016 - 20:35

      Thanks for the useful info Nikki, it looks good. Just have a question if I decide to opt for the lowest tier Extras cover as well, is there any flexibility with the policy terms (e.g. length of waiting period and level of excess) and how do these vary with premium?

  • brainactive on 21/06/2016 - 20:38

    Lots of votes for HCF as well. Any particular reasons for the votes?

    • spal on 22/06/2016 - 05:25

      My vote is because they were the cheapest and offered highest possible discount of 12% through my employer, not for profit and Australian call center.

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