Everytime I pay for massages at the shops and they find out I have health fund, they increase the massage price by $5. So for e.g its $30 for massage, with health fund its $35.
If I don't tell them I have health fund and ask for a receipt, can I go still into the health fund branch and claim?
^ this "provider number"
just claim it in the shop first time so you know their provider number and then next time you get receipt and claim yourself online.
Yes you can claim it by yourself. I've done that numerous times. A lot of dentists also do that…
Yes. If you are with medibank for e.g you'd go into your account to make an Extras claim, with all your paperwork and receipts handy.
see what you did there. massage, extras and handy
This practice of charging more because it is paid by the Fund has to be stopped because ultimately it is the members of the fund that pay that extra $5 / visit.
Prices tend to go up a lot as soon as you throw the word 'insurance' around … applies to car insurance, building insurance, etc
How much extra for a tug?
Have you ever asked them about their logic for charging more for a health fund? Is it because hicaps has a high surcharge?
Some don't even use the HICAPs machine!
They don't want paper trail or they use another locations provider number and must pay a transact fee to other provider
So for e.g its $30 for massage, with health fund its $35.
is this legal?
It is, why not?
I'm not sure if this a good example but I noticed this;
Same dentist, same item number, same day, two different health provider, they bill them different prices, I ask each provider, they said its normal.
Hurstville75
are you from Hurstville? or your name is actually Hurstville?
My therapist is in the HSBC Arcade on Forest Rd and he does not charge extra for hicaps.
Highly recommend him, his name is Peter He.
yes hiroko i am from hurstville. Thanks i will visit him. Is it $30 for half hour?
not sure how much he charges for half hour, i usually pay $70 for an hour hicaps or not.
How much would you get back for $30 massage (assuming half hour)? Do you need to actually have health problem to do massage and have insurance claim? I can live without massage but it would be nice to have discount massage from insurance. Maybe I can claim tense muscle after sitting in front of computer 8 hours a day.
No you do not need a health problem, but it needs to be listed as a claimable item in your policy. Amount you get back depends on your policy. Some give a fixed amount, some give a percentage.
Wouldn't this problem be solved if you ask how much it will cost before you get the massage? Also not going to dodgy looking places might be another reason?
I have been charged extra before even when the prices were clearly written down…and it wasn't covered anyway…not be going back and maybe you shouldn't either.
Yes. You can claim online
Partner gets remedial massage at our local place. It's 45 for 30 mins which is kind of steep but he gets 30 of that back so no big deal. But they don't take on any extra cost when you mention health insurance. A lot of places have signs for the health insurance they accept there so I think it's a bit odd for them to be adding to the price…
I would think there would be costs for merchants to be able to participate, HICAPs or not.
It's like a merchant paying get fees for EFTPOS facilities and passing that onto customers…
Im guessing they wouldn't put their provider number on the receipt then. Usually they log it on their end also, so it might get detected by someone at some point if you are claiming on something they don't have a record of.