Best (if Any) Private Health Insurance for Mental Health?

• 

  thatonethere on 20/02/2020 - 13:01

  +1

  Keep an eye out for offers that waive the waiting period. Check the PDS.

  From experience it isn't a river of free money and skip the line to specialists…

  • 

    Wilburre on 20/02/2020 - 13:35

    Yeah I figured that, just tossing up whether its worth starting now to get the 2yr waiting period ticking down (pre existing conditions) or leaving it until lifetime loading or Medicare levy become motivating factors.

• 

  dealymcdealerson on 20/02/2020 - 13:02

  +2

  Hey mate,

  I don't know anything about the carpel tunnel side of things but on the other side of things i may be able to offer some information.

  Private health insurance will not assist with any psychiatrist appointments and medication that is on the PBS, it will however help with NON PBS Medication if you are on any. It will also cover psychology services up to a certain cap depending on the cover. Important to note that you may be entitled to free psychologist appointments every year after a consultation with your GP, I believe its 10 sessions. Another thing to note for psychiatric services even the lower covers can be bumped up as a once off to cover these services without any waiting periods, this could save you a lot of money if that is your only reason for having high hospital cover.

  Hope this helps https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Cont…

  • 

    87percent on 20/02/2020 - 13:17

    +2

    yeah go to your GP and get a Mental Health Plan. Before you go, do some research into which psychologist (or whatever) you want to see as the doc will need to do a referral

  • 

    Wilburre on 20/02/2020 - 13:43

    Thanks mate already been on a mental health care plan but currently only doing psychiatric sessions as psychology hasn't helped - they literally said save your money until you can get more stable after 7 sessions. I'll be getting ECT as soon as there is an opening in the public system in Canberra or Sydney, which is multiple outpatient procedures a week every few weeks or months depending on progress, or as 5 day inpatient stays. Because all of this has been going on since I was a teenager and is documented with the Drs, specialists and some claimed through Medicare, I imagine for me anything mental health related is going to come with a 2yr waiting period as it'd all be considered preexisting conditions? If there was a private health product that had a lesser waiting period or great coverage for me id jump on it to try and save money in the future, but at the moment it feels like it won't help for 2 years and then I'll be 30 and likely taking out something for Medicare levy anyway.

    • 

      dealymcdealerson on 20/02/2020 - 13:46

      +1

      I think you should have a read of that link and explore the option of bumping up the cover as a once off, not 100% sure it applies but i think for an inpatient it would..

      • 

        Wilburre on 20/02/2020 - 13:58

        Hey mate had a look and it looks like I've got 2 decent options. Get private health (hospital cover) of any description, hold for 2 months and apply the upgrade, or get the cover I need, wait 2 months and access it (save upgrade for future). Should be able to claim private health rebate on both options too. Thanks for the info it's nowhere near as bad as i'd thought.

        • 

          dealymcdealerson on 20/02/2020 - 14:07

          @Wilburre: It generally never is :)

• 

  abc123z on 20/02/2020 - 13:04

  +3

  Waiting periods for private inpatient psychiatric are 2 months for pre existing conditions not the 12 months for most non mental health pre existing conditions. In addition there is a once in a lifetime waiver of the 2 month waiting period for psychiatric. This only helps you with inpatient treatment though and no private health cover will help you with the cost of seeing a psychiatrist out of hospital. Some extras policies cover a limited amount of psychologists visits out of hospital I believe. I guess that would only be useful if you already using your 10 rebated visits under a mental health plan each year. Getting a cheap cover and then upgrading will not waive waiting periods for things that were not covered under the cheaper policy.

  • 

    Wilburre on 20/02/2020 - 13:46

    Thanks mate this has answered quite a few questions. I will be getting ECT in the public system as soon as there is an opening though I'm not not sure what that is classified as (ie psychiatric or some sort of other classification). This info might be able to get me in much quicker under the private system if it classifies as psychiatric as it can be done as inpatient or outpatient and might help me out a lot.

    • 

      abc123z on 20/02/2020 - 13:53

      +1

      Looking in more detail at the link dealymcdealrson provided, the one off waiver of the 2 month waiting period for psychiatric does require that you have some form of hospital cover for 2 months beforehand, but that could be a cheap policy. I think you might need to ring some funds to see if they cover ECT, what may be the case is they might cover any associated inpatient hospital costs but the ECT itself might not be covered or might have a gap. I think you would have to ring them to make sure before taking out a policy.

      • 

        Wilburre on 20/02/2020 - 14:00

        Yep that was my thinking too, I'm glad this is starting to make some sense and someone else is on the same page as me. Thanks.

• 

  cloudy on 20/02/2020 - 17:03

  I’d suggest speaking directly with insurers, Medibank and bupa both have stores in some shopping centres.

  If you don’t believe they will give you independent advice, go with iselect and ask them to offer advice in regards to which private health insurance might help.

  Please note though, after you speak with them and if you don’t want follow up calls tell to to put you on their do no call list