Have someone that needs to get braces in the next year or so $8000+.
Does anyone know of any good private health insurance policies that cover a big chunk of that? Seems like Qantas extras has the highest limit i have seen (1000 for general + 1300 for major) but then again you are paying $3000 (family plan) for the extras at 75%.
some dentists will allow you to pay for braces in installments, probably better to find a dentist who will do this
fwiw I have a medibank corporate policy and I have a combined dental limit of $1750 (which includes major dental) and an 80% claim back. I pay $550 a month for a family policy (including pregnancy cover)
Have you claimed from Medibank before? Get ready for the ride
yep, claimed a 25,000 out of pocket hospital bill. cost me 500 excess.
So you basically Medibank covered the $25K bill?
@MrThing: Wow I'm shocked!!! I'm glad it worked out for you! Good on Medi-w*nk for not making you jump over hurdles and making you wait countless hours over the phone and ultimately rejecting the claim!
@vinni9284: it was all organised by the hospital. I arrived for my operation, was given a piece of paper which said I had to pay $500 and that was it prior to surgery
didnt have to make any claims personally after I got home
@vinni9284: September 2020
well I guess thats the service I would expect everyone to get. pay for a service get the service with minimal hassles
shame that people obviously arnt getting that.
I used to be with Bupa, same deal, no issues, making claims was super easy, never found myself on the phone for hours ready to explode
Braces doesn’t come under major dental, you need to be covered for orthodontics. The limits on orthodontics are generally quite low and don’t come close to covering the costs, so you will need to weigh up whether the higher premium with orthodontics will be worth what you get back in your claim.
AHM has a cover of $2200 for orthodontics (braces) the last time I checked. I can't remember which level of cover.
It is a lifetime limit. The maximum you can claim per financial year is $1000.
Pay $6k to get $2k back, seems like a sound financial decision.
I'm not saying it's a sound financial decision.
Each person has to make their own decision based on their own health and financial situation etc.
Sorry, wasn't aiming that at you directly, just trying to point out that it extremely rarely works out that getting health insurance for one thing, does not make sense.
Also major dental policy has a 12 months waiting period for new member
Health insurance companies that allow you to plan ahead and save money?
Gave up on Extras. Was with Bupa.
Rationale. Total lifetime of orthodontia dropped to $1500. Time to get - 5 years.
5 years x monthly fees - $1500. Do the math.
Recently got braces done with some serious paediatric dentistry involved.
Happy to have payment plan. Cash cost - less than $7000 over 2 years.
Extras are a complete waste of time.
Edit - with HCF corporate Gold hospital only now. Just had 2 serious surgeries in a month, no gap. Monthly fee less than $300 pm family. You can get this via car association in your State.
Could you explain more about how to get this price? Thanks.
I second that request
Thanks for all the responses, especially that it is not major dental and is orthodontics! It looks like it is better to just pay out of pocket than get extras cover for that specific item.
I did exactly that and it worked out great for me. $8000 braces (Invisalign). Used HCI (who have been great).
Paid for 1 year before I could use it for the braces, but there are shorter wait times for some other items. They paid $2700 for them over 3 years. At the time I joined in 2015 it cost $456 for the best extras cover (the cheapest plan wasn't worth it). I was 51 then so it'd be cheaper for a younger person I think. Most recent premium was $596.
Good allowance for glasses each year ($200-250). They pay any prescription cost over about $42.50 (good if you have a regular expensive one). Just had a $330 dentist bill. They paid $260 of it.
If you go overseas for a long time you can put on hold (they may all do that).
Bear in mind you claim them over two or three years, too.