Private Health Insurance Now or Later - a Financial Perspective

dynamike on 12/03/2018 - 22:58
Last edited 12/03/2018 - 22:58

Disclaimer: Use this spreadsheet at your own risk and don't blame me if you find yourself without money and/or the correct health cover!

If you're like me and been wondering what the actual costs of Private Health versus Public Health for you / your family are, then attached spreadsheet might be just what you're looking for.

Now, Private Health is very much a personal decision and circumstances vary widely as I'm sure you currently hear on TV and Radio everywhere. So before you download the spreadsheet, check that the following applies to you:

  • You would currently have to pay a lifetime health cover loading - LHC without Private Health Cover
  • Your current LHC loading is 0%
  • If you are in a de-facto relationship, the above two conditions apply to both you and your partner.
  • You plan to take up and maintain some form of private health cover before your 55th birthday

If those conditions apply to you, attached spreadsheet gives you a financial perspective on the costs involved in taking up private health cover versus staying in the public system a while longer.

Information you will need to know:
* Your taxable salary including fringe benefits but excluding superannuation
* The annual premium of the most likely health cover you'd pick BEFORE rebate

Variables
* Average annual inflation of you health cover premium (default is 3%)
* Years you'd consider being without private health cover (must be before your 55th birthday)

Link to spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MSHN1WYc2weAPNox5f8s…

File > Download As… and then use the single or family tab depending on your needs.

This is purely a FINANCIAL comparison and does not cover any medical considerations!

Let me know if it was useful to you!

Health & Beauty

Comments

  • whooah1979 on 12/03/2018 - 23:09

    someone may find this helpful.

    https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/Medicare-le…

  • tsunamisurfer on 12/03/2018 - 23:24
    +2

    This is purely a FINANCIAL comparison and does not cover any medical considerations!

    If you take away the aspect of actually falling ill and not wanting to be on the year long waiting list then private health is always a loser, as with all insurances.

  • airal3rt on 12/03/2018 - 23:50

    Taking out private health insurance isn't a mathematically determined formula, your pre-existing conditions and risk factors or lack thereof are by far the determining factors. This spreadsheet may be useful for the >0.5% of the population who are genuinely borderline considerations.

    • dynamike on 13/03/2018 - 07:06
      +1

      I disagree. To make an informed decision anyone needs to understand the financial costs of insuring publicly vs privately. Whatever the costs you can then weigh up against your medical risk profile and benefits a specififc private health cover would offer you.

      Also, private health is not like car insurance. You have insurance either way through public health though the benefits may vary.

  • Shadowsfury on 13/03/2018 - 05:14
    +1

    3% inflation on health premium cover seems being generous (to the insurers) - isn't it more like 4-6% lately?

    • hawkeye on 13/03/2018 - 05:47

      More mine is going from $98 to $105 in a couple of months.

    • dynamike on 13/03/2018 - 06:54

      Good point you're making indirectly. You have insurers raising premium and government lowering rebate. Playing around with a higher inflation should give you an idea of the impact.

  • idontalwaysnotlie on 13/03/2018 - 09:18
    +1

    Thanks, fairly useful to me as I pretty much break even. I will be dropping as I firmly dont want a private health system like america and would rather pay the 1.5% to the public system I believe in.

  • Seraphin7 on 13/03/2018 - 12:46

    Insurance is basically by definition going to be a loser for the consumer while ever they don't/don't wish to claim on it, even with LHC in its current guise from a purely financial perspective.

    The "game" is to get health insurance the moment before you want to make a claim on it, and of course subject to waiting periods. The risk is that you don't know when you'll want to make that claim.

  • dynamike on 09/07/2018 - 07:42
    +1

    Excellent article on the topic by ABC

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-09/private-health-insuran…

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