Private Health Insurance

[Jungnaut]

I am with BUPA active and I've been coughing up $69 a month but now they want to jack it up to $73 a month, the flipping thieves. Is health insurance really worth it?

The only thing I have claimed in the past 12 months is 2 x osteopath treatments. The only concern I have is that damn age loading so if I decide to cancel and rejoin later they will add another 2% for each year I am not insured on top of my premium!

I am also aware of Murphy's Law which states that the moment I cancel the policy I will require hospital treatment that will cost half a mortgage to pay or something like that.

 

[White_Lie]

If you don't really need/use it, just get the cheapest one going. "Compare the market"?

I'm over the tax threshold so if I don't have it, they charge me what an average policy costs in tax anyway. So I either pay for it and have it when I need it (which is pretty much never) or pay for it in tax and get nothing for my money.

 

[Jungnaut]

Nur I don't have to pay the medicare levy surcharge so it won't make an iorta of difference. Hospital cover with Ops would be the biggest killer if I ever needed it, not the yearly visits to the dentist, outdoor fitness incentives all the other itty bitty stuff lol.

 

[wingman]

I went with HBF the day before my birthday (30 i think?) just to avoid that tax penalty thingo. I've never used it, so i guess any benefit has been eroded by paying the premiums.

Touch wood my eyesight is perfect and I've not been to a GP nor hospital in years. I really should get to a dentist though.

 

[C_T]

if something serious happens, it will be in a public hospital at no charge aka a car crash.

you can also opt to have anything done in public for free you just go on a waiting list.

its only simple things that are really better for private, say you need a knee reco and want it next week (it will still cost a fortune even with private if im not mistaken), but the few days stay will be in a private hospital with better food (still doesn't guarantee a private room either!)

ive worked in both private and public hospitals for over 10yrs so see the differences but tbh i don't really know how it works. but im pretty sure you still get charges even with insurance, unless its urgent and you end up in public regardless, its just after the emergency you can be shipped to a private bed to recover instead of staying in a public bed with shitty food.

I asked my boss (specialist) years ago if i should get private and he said if anything serious happens you'll be in public anyway, thats where all the top equipment is.

private is for simple things like shoulder, hip and knee's. but if something really bad happened to your knee and your in severe pain 24/7 you will go straight to the front of the list in public. its not like they make you wait a year, thats for simple things not severe things.

 

[Brick]

if something serious happens, it will be in a public hospital at no charge aka a car crash.

you can also opt to have anything done in public for free you just go on a waiting list.

its only simple things that are really better for private, say you need a knee reco and want it next week (it will still cost a fortune even with private if im not mistaken), but the few days stay will be in a private hospital with better food (still doesn't guarantee a private room either!)

ive worked in both private and public hospitals for over 10yrs so see the differences but tbh i don't really know how it works. but im pretty sure you still get charges even with insurance, unless its urgent and you end up in public regardless, its just after the emergency you can be shipped to a private bed to recover instead of staying in a public bed with shitty food.

I asked my boss (specialist) years ago if i should get private and he said if anything serious happens you'll be in public anyway, thats where all the top equipment is.

private is for simple things like shoulder, hip and knee's. but if something really bad happened to your knee and your in severe pain 24/7 you will go straight to the front of the list in public. its not like they make you wait a year, thats for simple things not severe things.

My ex got her knee done under our private policy $250 hospital excess and $500 to the anethitist everything else was covered. Best part is you pick your surgeon, instead of going to Jayden Patel who got his degree at Calcutta tafe you go to a guy who went to rmit and did his post grad at Cambridge and is operating on professional sports people.

She got the lars reco, not an option in public means your recovery takes 1/3 of the time. Wouldn't have had that option in the public system.

my policy was fucking expensive though $350/month, but it's the little things that make the difference when your sick like when she had the kids private room with a bed for me as well to stay and my meals included and not shit hospital meals, set meals call up and order when you want. Shit like that, although I was still $2k out of pocket at the end of each kid, but then I'd go visit mates and their at the public hospital in a ward with 7 other people who each have their families and friends jammed in there, fuck that.....

 

[craze]

We are paying for 2 of us over $250 a month, and it goes up $30 or more each year and yes we swapped funds, my wife has previous illness which likely makes it so dear.

Ive said this is the last year we are doing this, we only have it now as our daughter was born.

Im sick of paying $3K+ a year for this crap

oh and everytime we go to hospital cause shes sick it costs me thousands cause those normal tests arent covered under private

 

[WoodyAllen]

Wot CT said.

Also, I had private for a while and got sick during. Ended up in hospital for an emergency op on my throat. The entire time I was in the public system. Got first class care. Half way through my recovery they put me in a private room out of deference to my private health insurance. But that is about all I got for my money.

I checked dental later and turns out that your yearly benefit about equals your extra premium cost so zero reason to get that. Dentists here suck balls. Massive overcharging.

Considering what you get for your money, private is a total rip off. If you know that in a year or so you will need ACL surgery or something like that, maybe worth paying for a year to get a better room and such but I doubt it. It's up to you but do the math and if you stay in the private system, be happy that you are paying for the BUPA ceo's new porsche and next investment property.

 

[Jungnaut]

Shit, it sure doesn't sound like a good investment at all this damn insurance. Almost as bad as taking out life insurance.

 

[Arfwit]

Self insured. I put the equivalent on the mortgage and then use that to pay for everything. As mentioned already any emergency shit will be done in public hospital anyway. My son got his skull cut open when he was 3 months old and that was free even though it is technically cosmetic.

Different story if we were older but insurance is a gamble you only win if something bad happens. And if something isn't covered by medicare, cash jumps the queue as well.

 

[wingman]

Shit, it sure doesn't sound like a good investment at all this damn insurance. Almost as bad as taking out life insurance.

life insurance within ya super is ok

 

[Arfwit]

life insurance within ya super is ok

Yeah you may as well spend that money now because by the time the govt let's you near it there won't be much left.

 

[wingman]

Yeah you may as well spend that money now because by the time the govt let's you near it there won't be much left.

Yup. Also cuz super is the most useless thing in invention, so may as well put something useful in it.

I'd rather be without super. No one with an ounce of common sense needs help retiring.

 

[Brick]

Our public health system is dying a slow death you want to make sure you don't miss the boat on private health before we end up like America where if your not insured you're fucked.

as for paying your way when my daughter was born she was in intensive care for a 10 days, bill that Medibank copped was 80k my out of pocket was $2000 total, id say it paid for itself especially when I read in the paper the other day that the public hospital is going to be the subject of an inquiry cause their mortality rate is fucking atrocious nearly 3 times higher then the public hospital......

 

[wingman]

Didnt pick you as the dad type brick

 

[Admin]

Choosing your own doctor is overrated unless have a genuine idea of a particular doctor's complication rates etc.

any people will choose a doctor the same way they choose a footy team , a friend will say Dr X is the best, based on no information

 

[Shrek]

Didnt pick you as the dad type brick

That's because you only know his online persona.
It's imaginary, like God?

 

[Brick]

Choosing your own doctor is overrated unless have a genuine idea of a particular doctor's complication rates etc.

any people will choose a doctor the same way they choose a footy team , a friend will say Dr X is the best, based on no information

Yep I had family in the field my ex father in law was an anethitist so worked with surgeons everyday used to have pretty frank discussions with him and some of the stories he told were pretty scary, but using backs as an example the top shot surgeon will have a nearly 90-95% success rate while the bottom dweller at your local public hospital is lucky to be nudging 30%.

There are good surgeons in the public system but generally their young guns trying to make a name for themselves and get out.

At at one stage a few years ago Medicare was 3 full months behind in paying surgeons invoices, I've heard it's better now but what sort of doctor wants to deal with that?

One funny thing I noted all their friends were in one way or another involved in the medical field and all of them told me I was pretty much an idiot when I floated the idea of not having private health insurance.

 

[Brick]

That's because you only know his online persona.
It's imaginary, like God?

Yeah but at least I manage a productive life away from ausbb, I even have friends. You should try them sometimes their like people you moderate on the forum but they are your peers and you see them in real life......

 

[Shrek]

Yeah but at least I manage a productive life away from ausbb, I even have friends. You should try them sometimes their like people you moderate on the forum but they are your peers and you see them in real life......

Is that what they are????. .right
Thanks for the tip imaginary person.