Hi all, with the price rise coming up over Easter, I was about to call up Bupa and prepay a year to save some $$, but Bupa are closed for the public holiday/long weekend.
Does anyone know if it NEEDS to be done over the phone, or can you simply make a one-off payment online?
The risk is that this payment doesn't go through today, and I'm basically paying the new rate with the funds I deposited.
Prepaying Health Insurance Prior to the April 1 Hike
LDamonT on 30/03/2018 - 12:28
Comments
Bupa call centre is still closed Sat/Sun, but it seems the Bupa stores at shopping centres are open tomorrow, so I will try my luck there.
That's a scam.
With the exorbitant charges that Bupa dishes out, they ought to be contactable 24x7.
Someone's making a killing here and it ain't us.Bupa has made some changes too …
http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/customers-being-w…From July 1, Bupa will no longer pay benefits for certain procedures to customers who are on cheaper policies.
These procedures will no longer be part of the “minimum benefits” package:
• Hip and knee replacement;
• Cataract and eye lens procedures;
• Renal dialysis for chronic renal failure; and
• IVF and assisted reproductive services
So in essence:
- Premium goes up.
- Level of cover drops.
So in my view, Bupa wants (swaying) their customers to spend a lot more to be covered on a higher plan.
Cheers
Exactly - I am with BUPA too - they increased the premium by 6.5% - took few things off cover
I am more than happy to move to other providers but so far cant find any. Love to hear if someone has any suggestion.
In relation to your original post, just pay it online or u can also use the auto payment function on phone and it will be fine.
@CheapSticks: After all increases, check level of cover and premium across insurers. Don't just blindly jump because of what BUPA did; it's what they did relative to other insurers (and where all of them were before the changes).
Medibank has an option on its online portal that allows you to pay 1 year worth of premium via the portal. Don't know if Bupa has that option. Otherwise you might have missed the boat.
Call it even if you lock in a yearly premium before April 1st of 2019, haha. That's what it looks like I'm going to have to do.
Many people wait till the last minute to pre pay for a whole year for some reason.
They all have retention departments that you can call directly and get even a better price rather than the set fee online.
Even if you receive your premium, I never just pay it without trying to negotiate a better price with them.My mum "was" with Medibank recently and got her premium. We did an online quote as a new customer with all of her credentials and discovered that the new customer premium is cheaper with a higher level of cover.
So she changed to Frank.
Medibank called and asked why, obvious reason why and they gave us a 1300 number to call to see what they can do.
It is always after the fact, they try to chase you up for a better deal.In our case, we couldn't be bothered playing games. If they want to keeps us as a customer, give us a good price from the start and stop playing games as they think we will stick with them for the rest of our lives.
We all pay loyalty tax; offset new members discounted fee to get more members and they love us to set and forget. Not this time.
Each to their own.
Cheers
I did notice that Frank is better price but private cover is only provided in public hospital i.e. u may still have to wait in the queue as private in public doesnt mean that u get priority
Where did you see that?
My mum opted for Frank Best Hospital
"What’s covered?
Best Hospital provides benefits as a private patient in a private or public hospital for all procedures or services unless they are listed as an exclusion for the cover."https://www.frankhealthinsurance.com.au/products/hospital/be…
You don't go for Basic Cover. That is a "Junk" policy.
Cheers
Dupe - Removed
I looked at the one which privatehealth showed as decently priced and had broader coverage
Perhaps was the basic one
Look at AHSA funds if you are looking for a good place to move to - you’ll be least out of pocket with them if you do need an operation (asked several drs and they All said only go with any AHSA Fund). Bupa they said avoid at all costs.
I will be looking to move regardless of locking in the year, so thanks for that info!
Try the Australian Private Health Insurance website www.privatehealth.gov.au if you want to compare rates. It's a government website and compares nearly all private health funds, unlike other 'comparison' sites.
Yep, had checked that to compare, but I don't think there's a single site that truly compares the details as each provider does make it difficult ("member benefits" esp for extras)
Ended up able to lock in a year by calling one of their physical stores. Can't believe the call centre doesn't have 24/7 or even Saturday service leading up to the deadline.
I paid a whole year in advance last year but not this year as the price rise is smaller the money is better off sitting against my mortgage. I've also dropped extras cover as it wasn't so much insurance and more like a payment up front for stuff you're not likely to use… Or if you do they are only giving back your own money. My wife thought she was getting cheaper healthcare because we had extras insurance - but they're just handing back what I have them upfront so again.. Better off on the mortgage and let my wife not have the illusion that the medical care is cheaper.
I usually do it on medibank website, last year did it on last day and went thru fine
Sorry, no experience with bupa
Try tomorrow, they might be open tomorrow as it's not public holiday