I like this one because you get the 6 weeks free after 30 days, and you do not have to take out extras Terms and Conditions – Join combined hospital and extras or hospital only cover and receive six weeks free and the waiver of the 2, 3 and 6 month waiting periods on extras cover.
Oh- I just joined in November for weightloss surgery. RIP my bank account.
Contact them and mention you're looking at leaving for another provider that's offering a deal like this. Sometimes health funds will offer you a free month to stick around. Alternatively, whilst waiting a year for surgery recently I did the old changing health fund dance and claimed a few different free period offers, they all honour how long you've been on wait lists for. Can be a bit tedious though, but definitely worthwhile given you're likely on Gold or higher tier
Thank you so much for the advice. I'm new to all health insurance. They also charged me extra for my first payment because i joined on the 11th? That is what they told me the reason was.
I couldn't really tell you what or why the extra payment is for, when I was hopping around between a few different funds they all tend to bill differently, but if you "deep" dive into the dates covered it all seems to line up in the long run, might have been a part payment for a few days then one months worth of payment for example
Hospital and Extras OR Hospital only
Hard decision……..
Will join after I churn Bupa for 6 weeks free :)
What are the negatives of churning health insurance every 3-4 months? I am a family of four thinking to do it, but I am not familiar with health insurance, especially how the waiting period works when changing providers, and does it mean I would get double or triple benefits if I change twice or three times a year?
From everything I've looked into the only real negative is sometimes you're on an older plan with better benefits that newer plans / other providers offer. Depending what you use it for it's definitely important to read their inclusions to make sure anything important to you is still included, most are relatively similar, but there's always a few caveats with how much is included and what % you can claim back, but once you are familiar with reading the inclusions it actually becomes a breeze. Just make sure the new fund receives the old funds clearance certificate so your wait periods aren't reset.
To add on what MBix said above (and this was touched on), make sure when churning that you look at carefully what you want in your plan and make sure that exists when you move onto your new provider.
For example, Orthodontics. It's a 12-month wait.
If you join health insurer A and they have Orthodontics, and then you move onto Health Insurer B who don't have orthodontics, that's fine but when you join Health Insurer C who has orthodontics, your 12-month limit will reset and start at this point.
Make sure that whatever inclusions you want between insurers, that they are included when churning.
I tried to change once.. the policy type was so different, found it almost impossible to compare.
Thank you both, may I ask how often you changing PHI?
Are people still buying worthless private health insurance ?
I have spent over 9 weeks in hospital over a year. Intensive care plus the longest stay was 3 weeks.
Bill came to zero. Medical staff ? All of them. Yes every specialist in Adelaide. PET at RAH. Lost count of x-rays and Cat Scans.
Including every blood test know to man.
But still no diagnosis.
But why would anyone bother with private health ??
Some do it to avoid medicare surcharge, well technically not avoiding it but instead of paying for surcharge, you would rather pay private cover and enjoy some of its benefits
Isn't one of the benefits that you have access to private hospitals where you can (potentially) get a private room instead of having a shared room at a public hospital? I think the food is meant to be better in private as well?
Multiple reasons (as noted above).
A few years ago, I stuffed my knee up, and I was able to get in with a private surgeon and have surgery within 3 weeks of my injury. I was lucky that they had a cancellation, but if I didn't have private health, I would have had to jump on the waiting list (and wait time could have been short or long).
Health insurance be very useful, useful, useless or very useless. I'm not here to argue that the PHI is useful for everyone, but to note it as a blanket "worthless" is plain wrong.
A few years ago I had a knee injury at work. After a lot of mucking about they refused to accept the claim. So I had to appeal. Mean while I was on crutches so my specialist, Mr Butcher book me in as a public patient. Got in done 2 days later at the QEH.
Try another doctor.
the extras has maximun benefits in $ you can claim, not an easy 50% 60% which you can maximise.
I can't find that information on their website, could you please give me a link to it?
Cheers signed up
What is the waiting period for hospital cover?
St lukes is very generous with Dental
Went today for scale and clean, fluroide and OPG.
Bill was $300, they paid $286. Didnt have to pay the gap.
But do you get flybuys or qantas points…