Are you going to ditch your health fund next year ?
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/is-the-public-hea…
Paywalled article, please google the title “Is the public health system so good you don’t actually need private insurance?”
Thanks tsunamisurfer
actually it's not
"We use a special definition of income (called income for MLS purposes) to determine whether you are liable to pay the MLS, and the rate you will have to pay. This is different to your taxable income. "
they pretty much add on your deductions
https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/Medicare-le…
We use a special definition of income (called income for MLS purposes) to determine whether you are liable to pay the MLS and the rate you will have to pay.
If you have a spouse, your combined income for MLS purposes will be used.
Your income for MLS purposes is the sum of the following items for you (and your spouse, if you have one):
taxable income (including the net amount on which family trust distribution tax has been paid)
reportable fringe benefits (as reported on your payment summary)
total net investment losses (includes both net financial investment losses and net rental property losses)
reportable super contributions (includes reportable employer super contributions and deductible personal super contributions).
if you have a spouse, their share of the net income of a trust on which the trustee must pay tax (under section 98 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936) and which has not been included in their taxable income.
exempt foreign employment income (if you or your spouse had a taxable income of $1 or more and received such income).
@jayzorz: I'm not an accountant so I don't know - I went from 85 to 110 salary so it didn't make a difference for me. Going off [@bobbinbrisco]'s list though, it doesn't seem like it's included?
Hi all,
To get pass the digital subscription paywall, simply :
1) Take note of the article title…in this case "Is the public health system so good".
2) Google title.
3) Click the link from Google….here is one I found
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/is-the-public-health-…
4) Give the finger to the newspaper.
Why you would want to "give the finger" if you wanted to read the article?
Not to mention view the ads next to it (assuming no adblock)
thanks.
i lov giving fingers..
to the newspaper people of course…
I give it to the cops.
I can only speak from personal experience and stories from close friends with WA in particular.
The Public Health system is no where near good enough, the wait lists are longer than most. The service you get for maternity through public is not great. Princess Margaret and Royal Perth all report low morale.
The government can't even open the new Childrens hospital that is more than a year late.
It is advisable to have private health, even if you choose to go public whilst having private health, you can get better service by admitting into a public hospital as a private patient.
I disagree in Qld. The public system in Brisbane is as good as private when having a baby (in fact it was better in some areas). I would rate the Redlands hospital over Greenslopes any day of the week. The only reason to have private health is to avoid the medicare surcharge imo. I would happily pay the medicare surcharge and ditch private if it actually gave some benefit to the individual.
Having a baby is different than surgery for a condition where you may need to wait years to get it via the public system
if you can make the trek go to murdoch. had fantastic experiences there
Hi all,
Say whatever you want, but you'll never convince me to drop my private health insurance. I am certain private health cover has saved the lives of people I know.
I won't go into detail, but I know someone who had a serious undiagnosed condition, ended up in hospital in an emergency with just minutes to live (not exaggerating, Doctors report said), got seen by very experienced doctors in a private hospital, with good resources, had emergency surgery, months of hospital treatments, hundreds of thousands of dollars of good one-on-one medical treatment covered. It became evident as stated by medical professionals, that in almost any other circumstance that person would almost certainly no longer be with us. Not to mention the added comfort, resources, allied health professionals for recovery, and private room for such a long treatment time in hospital that were provided, and consistent senior consultant specialist doctors that take care of all of the treatment and follow up, not the assigned registrar / junior of the day.
I had thought about dropping cover previously, never again. It's insurance, you dont hear people walking around saying "i don't get value out of my car insurance, my car is healthy, why would i need it?" …this was a young (under 35), seemingly healthy person… You never know what is around the corner.
Yes there are plenty of ways to improve the system, its over complicated and in parts messy, but I will always want choice of treatment options having seen what happened to others I know first hand.
emergency
so this was an emergency surgery, and not elective.
but I know someone who had a serious undiagnosed condition,
we know someone that suffered a stroke not so long ago. they spent 12 weeks or so in an icu after a few rounds of surgeries, induced coma and more surgeries. they're talking and walking today thanks the great surgeons and doctors at the rpa.
Thats great. However it doesn't change what I know about these circumstances - it was a complicated thing that required elements of many elective-ish treatments as well as the emergency surgery. They had choice and control over immediate care. Was all fixed up in as short a time as could be in the circumstances. Wonderful. There is absolutely no way it would have worked out as happy as it did in the public system, and I know of other people who have had bad outcomes in similar circumstances.
As for your stroke story, a senior relative of mine had one and went to RNS… What followed was years of misery and waiting lists, just like all my grandparents who all relied on the public system and had so much trouble with many serious things, so sad the waits they had to endure.
I agree with you when you referred your grandparents' case. Many seniors, though financially viable, are unwilling to meet the private insurance covers. It is real sad.I know there are cases they were kicked out by the public hospitals after admitted for few days and found no emergency cases, but later had to be admitted again , but were too late.Recently a friend who has private health insurance cover found having heart arteries blocked problem , ( but not in real emergency ) , will be his heart operated in less than 14 days.No need to wait.
OTOH doctors that practice in private and public settings routinely over-service in private practice as a way of generating income.
The greatest level of over-servicing takes place through the bulk-bill system. Because the patient does not pay for the service, they have no reason to question why they need to be seen again and again.
I'll be very interested to know what condition you were mentioning. There are many healthcare providers here on Ozbargain and I'm sure many will be keen to analyse your story.
You also mentioned for "that someone you know" went straight into a private hospital emergency department, and they had a great outcome. There unfortunately is no control to match it to for a public hospital - ie, one can never know if the treatment would've been exactly the same (or if not better) should they have went into a public hospital.
In the end, large tertiary public hospitals have the best resources. If you have a true emergency situation, eg a cord prolapse, then only a major public hospital will have on-site O&G, on-site Anaesthetics, and on-site theatre staff. No matter how prestigious the private hospital, all three aforementioned aspects are called in and are valuable minutes lost.
I am not going to go into full details on the web. However to clarify, I did not say they went straight into a private hospital emergency department, rather they ended up in an emergency situation in a private hospital (subtle difference), and it was during a work day when all those staff were already there for other surgeries.
They key is the public system would not have had them in hospital at all. In fact they had been to a general emergency department originally some time earlier, but was sent home after hours with little joy. So they saw their doctor and got referred quickly to a private specialist who gave them the option of immediate private treatment and admission on one issue, when another complication occurred which escalated their situation to a life threatening emergency. Whilst the public option would have likely still had them at home waiting it out to see if their condition worsened, or trying to get in just to see a specialist, the private coverage meant they had choice to err on the side of caution and be admitted quickly for treatment and monitoring to improve their situation and alleviate their concerns.
You could argue ambulance response times to a public hospital, but given they live in a rural area in this circumstance, it would not have worked out (and wouldn't be a well-resourced tertiary hospital). Therefore the public system considered as a whole definitely did not offer the same treatment path.
Maybe it is luck more than anything in this instance, but when I discussed it with them in the aftermath, we agreed that having private health cover offered access to the care of senior experienced specialists in hospital who were familiar with their condition when their emergency occurred, which also saved minutes, and likely their life.
However I acknowledge if it happened over night when the specialists and theatre team were all at home, it probably would not have helped to the same degree, although nurses would have provided care and paged people and briefed them on the situation at least as quick or better than calling an ambulance at home.
Regardless, the personal treatment, choices, allied health services and follow up they received impressed me enough to stick it out with private cover regardless - It gives you choice to have care when and how you want it.
so it was an emergency surgery..you would have had the exact same treatment in a public hospital
not so, see long explanation replying to Deridas above, the private system and circumstances as a whole offered better care that improved prospects when the emergency occurred.
I wonder though in this case if it was just the team or practice that does well as opposed to the overall private insurance a person would normally get.
Not sure what state you are in but your story doesn't ring true for people living in QLD. The vast majority (maybe all?) major non-elective surgeries will be done in a public hospital (often people opt to be a private patient in public hospitals). Most major complications at a private hospital will end up at a public hospital. All major injuries that present at private hospitals get transferred to public hospitals.
Due to sheer numbers of surgeries taking place and therefore experience of doctors, you would be mad to go anywhere but a public hospital for anything major non-elective. The fact of the matter is, the "best" doctors in QLD for major non-elective issues work at least some (or most) of their time in public hospitals, because experience trumps everything else and that is where the bulk of patients are.
Elective surgeries are obviously different. If I was a sportsperson at risk of injury, or maybe a pregnant mother (for comfort, not better car) I would think about private health to skip elective wait lists.
Having said that, outpatient physiotherapy services are covered publicly after say, a knee reconstruction, whereas privately you are paying for follow up visits. Anecdotally from my physio friends working both publicly and privately, outcomes are better publicly because people simply turn up to more outpatient visits.
I think the system works well (despite being underfunded). You can even get free, quality dental work publicly (e.g. my wisdom teeth removed under general anesthetic), but the wait lists are obviously super long.
No idea about other states.
Haven't read the article, however I was contemplating dropping my insurance then a couple of events cropped up.
A mate of mine broke both bones in his lower leg kitesurfing. One foot got caught in the strap and twisted his surfboard around. Long story short, orthopod looked at his leg in Bunbury hospital and said depends on workload but maybe tomorrow…..next day said couldn't do it till following Thursday, a 7 day wait. He had private so took that route and got it operated on next day.
Convinced me to keep mine a little longer. A few months ago I shattered my collarbone in a mountain bike accident. Non-private route would have been to let it heal itself. That meant a long long time laid up. Used private cover, had the op. Doc said was lucky as part of private was to have mri which showed damage not revealed on x-ray. If I had let if heal it wouldn't have set properly and would have had troubles till day I die. I had a plate and 13 screws, all up cost was over $12000, I paid $300. I was up and riding again 3 weeks later ( unfortunately broke 3 ribs in another mountain bike crash 4 weeks later but that's another story).
Insurance is a gamble I guess.
My question is whether it is worth dropping now I am in my 50's. This is the time ( well maybe 60's and on) when I will start to reap benefits of insurance. Is it silly to drop insurance now after paying for it during younger years when I would never use it?
what PHI covers MRIs?!
As an inpatient at private hospital it would be
ah yeh okay.
kitesurfing
mountain bike accident.
Insurance is a gamble I guess.
you and your mate are involved in extreme/high risk sports with a high chance of serious injuries. having private health insurance is financially justified.
actually a good point.
Funnily enough I didn't even take that in to consideration when thinking of dropping it. You've convinced me to keep it for now…cheers
Username checks out.
ha ha true…when I went to hospital after breaking ribs, I got them to remove the staples they put in 7 days earlier when I walked into a glass door. They took the x rays and doc commented on the plate in shoulder. Told him that was from last month.
He actually suggested that I have some tests due to my run of 'bad luck' and wondered whether I may have some condition
Been free from serious accidents now for a couple of months….feels great. Thanks specsavers!!
Hi slipperypete congratulations that your recuperative powers are so great! I wanted to discuss what the private hospital cover component of PHI covers, i.e not counting Extra's Cover. I had some day surgery that resulted in a payment from my PHI that only covered 10% of my out of pocket expenses, the out of pocket was around $1500. When I checked my PHI they said they paid the hospital fee but only 25% of the Medicare Scheduled Fee (MSF) for the procedures I had done. Does this sound like the kind of cover you had? Do you think that your doctors' treatments were only charged at the MSF and that's why you only had to pay $300?
Hey, gotta admit I'm not great at the contractual side, however my cover is BUPA Budget Hospital with $250 Excess and Everyday Extras
Costs me $134 a month for a 51 year old non smoker
Dunno if that helps…to be honest I was surprised I didn't have to pay anything. Actually was $250 excess…I can't add up. The hospital fee was $8,936.00 and paid $8,686.00. All doctors, anaesthetists, titanium parts were fully covered on top of those costs.
Just on that last point, "on top of those costs", you did mean the $250 was the total out-of-pocket for everything?
That's correct. Everything was paid for however there was a $250 excess just for the hospital side of things
Physio and other stuff is pretty lousy, only get $33 back from a physio appointment. Similar for other stuff
Mind answering what provider and type of cover do you have? Ignore - saw you mentioned Bupa on page 2 :)
Had I gone to Herbert St I probably would’ve relapsed and died, instead I stayed in one of Paul Ramsay’s fine mental institutions and PHI paid out well over $60k worth of treatment costs. Worth every cent.
Damn son good to hear you are doing better now.
great to hear, certainly improves the mental health when you got $60k for free…..hope you are doing better now
I’m doing great now thanks, I honestly do believe having the best psychiatrists/doctors/nursing staff on the north shore attending to my needs made recovery a lot easier. I’d rather not have PHI pay out $60k in benefits, but that’s what insurance is for. I never thought I’d end up in rehab especially in my early 20s but I did, and I’m glad I have PHI coverage just in case anything shit happens.
yeh look it's a hard question.
I think the public system is great for emergencies and I think for a lot of elective surgeries, public is fine too. the problem is when you're in the middle… you need surgery, but it's not super urgent, and/or it's complex and/or you want a specific surgeon.
I had back surgery in 2014; had a herniated disc at T2/T3 which is very rare spot - it's also a complex area to reach. My neurosurgeon said to me "we either operate now, or I refuse to do the surgery, it's too risky." It wasn't urgent in terms of dangerous to me, but it was urgent because of the risk. Of course I said let's do it now. This is my spine, I'm not going to cheap out on that and risk paralysis. Had no PHI and it cost me an arm and a leg.
Had another major open surgery this year for something else. Again, in private. My surgeon has operated on me twice before (once in private hospital, once in public) and I trust him inherently. He also never mentioned public hospital to me and I assume if it was an option, we would have. Timing of medical treatment and surgery was super important and I couldn't go on much longer in terms of coping with symptoms even if public was an option. Have PHI at the moment and it covered maybe $6k and I spent about $2.5K.
In general I think our PHI is really really sh!t. It actually doesn't cover much and that's why I don't think it's for everyone. In some countries, PHI covers everything: specialists, scans, surgeries, everything. Our PHI covers not much at all. It covers the hospital and only a small portion of other expenses. Your surgeon fees are mostly your responsibility and that's where a big chunk of costs come from. The government sets a certain cost for a surgery, say $1000. Medicare covers 75%, PHI covers the other 25% of the $1000. Problem is, no surgeon actually charges $1000. Some may even charge $10,000. and you're responsible for whatever the "excess" is. It's BS. PHI should cover everything.
ah end rant. i can't rant forever on this topic.
Depends on each individual and your lifestyle and current life status etc.
If you are like me who basically negates everything and anything that could potentially even harm or interact with me then you will be fine and don't need it.
I only have general doctor health check ups and now mental health specialists and the once in awhile eye check up nothing serious or life threatening or demanding so public health insurance is fine for me aka Medicare.
But if my situation were to change and I felt that I was more at risk or fragile vulnerable then yes I would definitely get some private health insurance as it would be not only financially beneficial for me but also the level of service granted and open to me health wise.
what about the 31yo loading ?
will that force you take up phi eventhough you don't need it ? and under 90k pa threshold
What's that again please explain.
Is it phi costs more after 30 years of age?
yea, increasing by % every year after 30yo
the latter you signup phi , the more your premium will cost you when you decide to take up phi
@phunkydude: ah I see damn yeah I remember that.. always good to keep on mind.
Might have to reconsider PHI in the near future but right now I can't see myself getting one for some time not at least maybe until 2020.
But anything can happen.
What's standard PHI rates per month or annually nowadays? Or what are you on if you have any.
The lifetime loading disappears after 10 years.
E.g. if you get private cover at age 41, you pay a 20% Penalty for 10 years only. But you save 100% for 10 years. A saving of 8 annual premiums.
At age 51, you are back to normal cost.
LHC (loading) is just a scare tactic really.
If you pick an average premium (e.g. $1500) and didn't get PH till 36, you would pay an extra 10% for 10 years (aka an extra year of premium effectively) but you would have saved 5 years of premiums.
You always end up ahead financially, so unless you earn over 90k there's really no need to jump onto private health unless you have a planned need for it, OR likely to have elective issues where it would be better than public care
Clearly badly handled by government, I am not going to play an side of politics however as soon as the tax incentive was reduced the participation/memberships started to drop off.
Private health insurance in Australia is mostly a scam.
95% of members are financially worse off overall.
Large numbers of people buy junk policies because it is cheaper than the tax penalty (MLS).
Yes, because the insurance companies have better lawyers than you can ever afford, most of them won't pay out very much.
Isn't that the whole idea of insurance? Take a small hit in case you get stung by a massive hit? (In health terms, waiting 2 years for a knee recon)?
I think this video covers a lot of the topic pretty well: https://youtu.be/jIVuiiC12HY
It seems if you are willing to do a lot of research, follow up research, predict your needs, ask a shitload of questions even in situations where coverage might be the furthest thing from your mind, then it might be worth it.
Like most insurance the system is set up to be so complicated that it helps insurers get out of coughing up the dough when the time comes instead of making you feel comfortable knowing if the shit hits the fan you'll be covered.
Also known as business as usual.
34yo here, who has never had private cover. I have also had jobs where I earned over the Medicare levy amount but still refused to pay for private. 'Why?' I hear you ask..
Well I trust the public system if I'm in a life threatening situation and I'm not the type of person to elect to have stuff done.
Luckily I am pretty active and healthy so I haven't needed any real optical or dental work (touch wood).
Remember you are also covered for some accidents by your workplace or 3rd parties. I had a pretty bad motorcycle accident a few years ago and all my rehab was paid for by MAIB which is a compulsory fee on all our vehicle registrations in Tasmania.
Lastly, I have spent a little bit of time in the public health system NOT as a patient and heard some interesting comments.. I once heard a surgeon who had recently moved from the private to the public system comment that he couldn't believe the amount and variety of drugs and medicines available for them to use in the public system compared to private hospitals. I guess in the end, the public system is there to make people well and the private system is designed to keep people well AND to make money…
and I'm not the type of person to elect to have stuff done.
Uhh.. I'm not sure you understand the extent of what surgeries are considered 'elective'. Something might put you in a lot of pain or make you unable to walk, but isn't otherwise life threatening (being unable to walk does not put you at risk of dying — many people have no legs or are sitting in wheelchairs after all, and they're not dying). This would be considered elective. You could wait years for public surgery, living in pain, and unable to work to support yourself.
Elective doesn't mean 'optional'. You don't choose to do it for kicks. It's not like getting a manicure.
Luckily I am pretty active and healthy so I haven't needed any real optical or dental work (touch wood).
That's very good and encouraging. But some times things come up internally and you don't know about it. I also assume you don't have any hobbies where an accident can happen? e.g. playing sport.
I once heard a surgeon who had recently moved from the private to the public system comment that he couldn't believe the amount and variety of drugs and medicines available for them to use in the public system compared to private hospitals.
The general rule is, if it's emergency, public hospitals are more than good. It's those elective surgeries that you seem determined to never need or want that have unbearably long wait times. If you need it and can't wait, it's going to be very expensive going to a private hospital without cover.
Cost of my PHI+extras is about $350 p.a less than the Medicare levy surcharge.
Who are you with?
Yes, but you probably have a junk policy that doesn't really cover much.
No need to be so angry about it.
Exactly. There are so many "junk" policies and some are even promoted as a way just to save on the surcharge and don't cover much else.
Still, wouldn't it be better off getting a junk policy that saves you $350 p.a ? OP would otherwise be $350 poorer without the junk policy.
I can't understand why the stupid government pushes us onto these junk policies with their rules.
When something does happen, the junk policy covers nothing and the person will end up in the public system anyway.
So it's better if the money being paid in premiums goes into the public system than into the profits of a private company.
@bobbified: "…the junk policy covers nothing and the person will end up in the public system anyway."
If you have PHI, even a junk policy, you should be treated as a private patient in a public hospital. You get a mildly better experience (or at worst, the exact same experience) and the private health fund pays the hospital for your stay. This is why the government did what they did.
In the end, the insurance company is willing to bet that you either won't need to go to hospital, or you won't mention you have PHI when you are at the hospital, and thus they make money from your policy. Worst case is that everyone starts being treated privately at public hospitals and then they are taking the same risk profile as the government in terms of pay-in costs and pay-out costs (but obviously with a smaller pool of people so higher actual risk).
You get a mildly better experience (or at worst, the exact same experience) and the private health fund pays the hospital for your stay. This is why the government did what they did.
You will be more out of pocket than a public patient though. Unless you have no-excess cover.
@carnyturbo: What often happens is that private patients in public hospitals get the exact same level of service and care that the public patients do, and end up with a much bigger bill by the end of it.
It's very nonsensical to be admitted as a private patient.
You get a mildly better experience (or at worst, the exact same experience) and the private health fund pays the hospital for your stay.
So the government is basically betting the insurer that the amount of revenue being lost because it is being spent on 'junk' policies is outweighed by the amount of money the 'junk' policies are injecting back into the system. The insurers, which are private companies in it for the profit, are taking that bet.
I know who I think is more likely to be on the winning side of this bet.
Definitely stick with private health especially for pregnancies. My wife is had an elective C section and suffers from hyperemesis requiring her to attend hospital every few weeks to stay in for a few days… Very worth it as the meals are included. I get somewhere to sleep also.
Wow a meal and somewhere to sleep!
Speaking with people with loved ones who've had long hospital stays - those two very simple things are very very valued.
When your child has a couple of stints in hospital, one for a week, the other for two, you are pretty damned relieved to have that covered.
We got stung by our insurance.
First kid, no problems we actually went public as the public hospital system near us had an awesome system so we just used that. Updated our policy for our new kid and they removed obstetrics and didn't tell us, also made out the plan is better for us as we get more dollar value benefit for being a loyal customer. However, they are so strict with the requirements you would never ever hit that dollar amount or come remotely close. Chalk it up to changing a policy as a sleep-deprived new parent.
About to have kid number 2 and the public hospital near us is pretty bad (In the news for dying babies) so we aren't going to use that. Found out obstetrics is canned so we now have to shell out about 10 grand.
I think private is just a waste. They should just enforce the surcharge on everyone and then the insurance companies will have to be competitive.
I have private health insurance (hospital cover only) purely for tax reasons.
Great site to check if you'd be better off financially with PHI is:
Thanks mate great site
According to your site, as I suspected, private cover saves me money.
Many years ago, I got an advice from my family G.P. who said : Mate, do you think you can afford the private health ins. premium payment. ? If yes, go for it. At least you earn a peace of mine for that , and no worries make your feel better. With hindsight he is right.
I took out private health insurance only because we went above the threshold. In that time I have tried to use it twice.
Meniscus tear in knee, left me unable to walk without cruches. Public wait list was 18mths (non life threatening). PHI said I had to use a particular doctor, he's wait list was 12mths just for consultation. I ended up up paying out of pocket for a 'private surgeon' in a public hospital. was ~$4k but was done in a week.
Vasectomy - Flat out not covered by my policy. When I questioned it i was told I am on an old policy and the new comparable one covers it. But I have to wait the waiting period (24 mths). I went public, 6 mth wait and was done by same surgeon.
"Extras" Both my wife and I wear glasses and when ever we get new one, it's always the same deal "no gap for these health funds". OK cool, we are one of those. Go in only to find out our policy doesn't have that perk and they only offer 10%-20% (depending on range) back. It's cheaper for us to use the medicare test and then buy from somewhere like Zenni Optical (never had an issue)
My kids however have used it 5-6 times, Ambulance (febrile convulsions).
So with my wife now a STAM, we have dropped below the threshold and I can't see the value in paying for PHI anymore, instead we are going to look at ambulance cover only and pay the fees we would have paid, into a savings account.
Hi
I have gone through surgery 2 weeks ago for my Meniscus tear, all the cost was paid by HBF. No out of pocket.
It is depends on the surgeon for out of pocket cost, some charge $2000 out of pocket some charge nothing. Mine didnt charge me anything.
Oh I agree, I'm just bitter at the whole system and the fact there is such difference between plans.
Eh - PHI is same as everything else: You need to do your research, and you need to keep doing your research each renewal date (so once a year). I mean, you're OzB so you obviously do research for your everyday purchases, doing it for PHI should be a no-brainer: more expensive and more important.
Your plan may be the cheap one such as for basic cover. I think it is safe to take the comprehensive one which of course is dearer as far as the premium is concerned. Many of my friends take the basic cover types, but be warned there are a lot of sicknesses such as knee/hip cap.replacement not covered; some even don't cover stroke, eye cataracts etc. Choose your plan according to what you need. Don't winge if certsin items are not covered due to the wrong choice of plans.
There was a forum post regarding ambulance cover some time ago, in my opinion even ambulance cover is not worth it.
What would people recommend in my scenario? I'm thinking of getting some cover for my teeth for general cleaning and scaling. Just preventative stuff. A nearby dentist charges $100 for a clean without insurance.
I've looked into Ahm extras insurance and it seems like fairly good value and it covers other things as well such as physio which is useful (obviously not 100%).
Thoughts? I'm 25 yo and studying full time with a part time job.
Cheaper just simply to debit your account into a saving account each month and at the end of the year use the funds for your teeth than to get private health cover for your teeth.
I'm of the same view as you fry, I'd rather pay the premiums than fork out the full balance cost. Just because I'm never sure how much dental work actually needs doing. Sign up to AHM imo.
dental work actually needs doing Have you visited a Dentist? They're pretty spot on with who work may or may not need to be done in the future.
Yeah you're right, what I meant by that was whether the visit will end up just being a clean and scale, or a filling to be scheduled etc. It's generally just a clean though.
@Charusho:
For comprehensive to be worth it, you'll need to use multi discipline and use them all frequently. What I mean is you'll need to use physio, optom, dental, audiologist…
There are caps for each discipline. If you're using only one or two disciplines, you cannot possibly come out on top.
A filling is only a few hundred bucks at most. But if the tooth was healthy 6 months prior, it shouldn't lead to a filling. A filling would only happen if they see darkness in the x-ray. A sign of decay, which doesn't go from no decay to "you need a filling" in 6 months. If it's a small amount, they may not find it necessary to fill, but will monitor it. It's potentially something you're going to have to get done eventually, so you can brace yourself for that.
Filling is considered minor dental though. It's not something to worry about financially.
If you need root canal (normally requires a crown on top of that) or extraction + implant though, that will be very expensive. And extras cover for major dental doesn't reduce your bill by much. Certainly not enough to pay for a root canal. I paid about 4k for my root canal + crown. If I had extras cover I might have saved 500-1k.
If you get regular check ups, you will know about potential problems for the future and how expensive they will be. You'll also get a clear picture of the health of your teeth, which if you take good care of them shouldn't change.
If it's just preventative, don't bother. You would be paying $50 a month in premiums to get maybe $50 back from insurance for a clean. So unless you are planning to get a clean every month, it doesn't make $ sense.
If you were having a clean every month minor dental extras would not cover that anyway. The annual cap is very low.
If your family have/are considering PHI, it might be worth seeing if you can get/join a family plan, especially as you're still a full time student. I was in your boat some years ago and as a family we paid about $80-$90/month for extras cover, for which we mostly claimed on glasses and dental work. My partner paid about $50-$60/month for herself only and got considerably less cover.
A nearby dentist charges $100 for a clean without insurance.
That's actually cheap. If it includes an oral exam and x-rays, that's a lot less than I pay. Getting extras cover just for minor dental isn't worth it. Cheaper to pay the $100. Extras for dental in general is crap. Major surgeries have caps to how much you can get back, and major dental costs a lot more than the $1000 cap that many providers offer.
I paid for private health for quite some time just because I was under my parents cover and felt it was the right thing to do. I used the elective procedure once in a private hospital so I was still 500 out of pocket but got in almost straight away. I use it mostly for extras, dental specifically. I mean, 60-80% back off the cost for a minor monthly cost is worthwhile in my view.
Has anyone used the public system for dental? 100% bulk billed? I tried to find information on it and came up stumps. So for me, private health has value.
You need to look up the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). Most Health funds will only cover you for MBS and nothing outside of the MBS such as plastic surgery.
@pangwen:
its not actually true, its not based on your EARNINGS, its based on your TAXABLE income ;-)
slight difference, but big one, if you can write off some deductions you can get it under the line ;-)