Will be signing up as a new Private Health Insurance customer for the first time, I have a pre existing non-urgent hernia, is the waiting period 1 year, for say Bupa?
Current wait times for public hospitals is over a year from what the doc told me.
Any suggestions on whether I should go with them or elsewhere? I don't really earn much income to justify PH insurance as of now, but hopefully things change down the road.
Yeah I tried to figure that out, had some difficulties. I'll keep trying though.
according to BUPA it's $5,610, so it doesn't make much sense I can sign up for a year for $1300 or whatever and then get this procedure done after waiting 12 months, from a business perspective.
I noticed some places waive the waiting period ie: Medibank at the moment as a promotion
does that help or does that not cover things like this
(oops sounds like just extras)
Join eligible Medibank hospital & extras and complete a Live Better goal or challenge to receive: 20,000 points (singles) or 40,000 points (couples/families) to redeem on rewards. Plus - we’ll waive your 2&6 month waits on extras. Offer extended to 16 November. New members only.‡ Must use promo code: LIVEBETTER
Get referred into the public system anyway, if you get it done privately in the meantime you can the. Take yourself off the waiting list. Not sure about in VIC but I know in QLD some of the public health services sometimes have a push to drive down the public waiting lists and send a bunch of people into the private system at no cost.
It’s a year wait across all funds unless you can find one running a special offer (unlikely for the hospital component). If you’re going to get private health insurance do it before you’re 30 so you don’t get stuck with loadings later. Also get some quotes from private surgeons and hospitals, it may not cost that much to pay outright. Remembering there will be extra fees for the anaesthetist as well (this is also an additional cost even with private healthcare, something I’ve always found odd).
OK, I searched for you….
https://www.bupa.com.au/health-insurance/surgery-cost-calcul… shows out of costs for Bupa members.
"A pre-existing condition has a 12 month waiting period and is any condition, ailment or illness that you had signs or symptoms of during the six months before you joined or upgraded to a higher level of cover with us." from https://www.bupa.com.au/health-insurance/understanding-your-…
In view of OP's condition, they probably are appreciative of your heavy lifting here.
Be very careful about pre-existing conditions. Make sure you read the insurance PDS from front cover to back cover to see what it exactly says about pre-exisitng conditions and if you do not like the working try another health insurer.
yeah this is what i'm most concerned about, it isn't normally as simple as 12 months then you're right to go, there are plenty of warnings about reading the PDS, so that's what i'll do. Thanks for your input.
Did you try reading the info on their website?
somewhat, I searched Ozbargain for a deal first and discovered there's a woolworths voucher for signing up. seems to good to be true.
What is the cost of just paying to have it done privately, vs paying for private health, plus paying the gap?