Health Insurance.

[Jacques Vert]

Yes, it's that time or year again. Last March I paid 12 months in advance to beat the price rise (thanks to the suggestions on AFF).

Was looking to do the same this year and discovered that paying my fund NIB by credit card is 4.04% dearer than a direct debit from my bank! WTF; what happened to the Reserve Bank's rule on credit card fees? I'll have to look around for another provider (again).

BTW; has anyone paid there annual fee using those GCs, $100 at a time?

I asked NIB about the 4% and this is the answer I got via online chat:

We dont charge 4% more for credit cards, we offer a 4% discount for direct debit from a bank account. Therefore any other pay method, credit card, Bpay, cheque would appear to be 4% more, however this would be the standard rate.

Gotta love insurance companies.

 

[kamchatsky]

The private hospital available through private insurance is important for our son as it means he can access Hyson Green psychiatric hospital when/if he needs it. The public one is dreadful and he would be worse there than when he went in. For him private insurance has been a godsend.

For mental facilities, what are the main differences between public and private? How does Hyson Green compares to the others?

 

[Pushka]

For mental facilities, what are the main differences between public and private? How does Hyson Green compares to the others?

Waiting periods for a start. One of our family members was admitted into ER. The staff there were advised they had private health insurance and they were clearly relieved that he would be getting help. Facilities. The demand on the public system is enormous. If a relative has depression they may need in house treatment immediately. That cannot be done in the public system. Then there is the mix of patients. Some have severe mental health issues. Behaviours. And so on.

 

[love_the_life]

For mental facilities, what are the main differences between public and private? How does Hyson Green compares to the others?

I see you are in in Sydney. The situation may be different there. Son has a long history of mental illness so he and we have been round the traps a lot.
The Canberra Hospital has a new psych area now which may be better but in the past in the public system son has:
shared a room with a very agitated and confrontational patient
shared bathrooms/toilets with other patients
had a security guy with a gun sit outside another patient's room
had no regular doctor; whoever is one does the rounds
not been able to use mobile phone or have anything of value (like iPad etc) as it could be stolen or cause a fight
been not allowed anything in a plastic bag, so if we took clothes in etc they had to be unpacked before entering
not had any long term planning for treatment - more a matter of doping up and then out the door
and in one case actually came out worse than when he was admitted.

When public staff suggest that if at possible he should go into the private hospital (and actually the dr went out of her way to get him into there which meant arranging for him to have a private psychiatrist which he hadn't had until that time), you feel that something is not right in the public system. I do thank her in my mind every time he has had to go to hospital. It was the best move he made.


Hyson Green is the private psych hospital attached to Calvary Hospital (which has both private and public beds). Whenever he has been admitted (a few times over the years) he has:
been able to have his own psychiatrist treat him (this is the biggest advantage)
has had group sessions on a variety of topics during the day
gone on bush walks with groups/ staff
had his own room/ensuite
had freedom have a coffee/snack whenever he wants in a common dining area
can have visitors throughout the day
been able to sign out and go out of the hospital for an hour or two (when deemed OK by staff)
had a 'sleep at home' night to see how he manages before discharge

The difference is huge. Hyson Green is a very caring environment and he knows that if he does need to go into hospital that he will be well looked after there. Hasn't been in for over 2 years (and then it was to move his medication to Clozapine over several weeks).

Hope that answers your question.

 

[VPS]

I put my BUPA insurance on hold last year when I was out of the country for 7 months. Even though I had to pay a bit more in Medicare it still saved me several hundred dollars. Luckily I had been salary sacrificing heavily so not a high income.

 

[Dr Ralph]

BTW; has anyone paid there annual fee using those GCs, $100 at a time?

Yes. Have done this for a few years now.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Yes. Have done this for a few years now.

Thanks Dr Ralph.

 

[Denali]

I see you are in in Sydney. The situation may be different there. Son has a long history of mental illness so he and we have been round the traps a lot.
The Canberra Hospital has a new psych area now which may be better but in the past in the public system son has:
shared a room with a very agitated and confrontational patient
shared bathrooms/toilets with other patients
had a security guy with a gun sit outside another patient's room
had no regular doctor; whoever is one does the rounds
not been able to use mobile phone or have anything of value (like iPad etc) as it could be stolen or cause a fight
been not allowed anything in a plastic bag, so if we took clothes in etc they had to be unpacked before entering
not had any long term planning for treatment - more a matter of doping up and then out the door
and in one case actually came out worse than when he was admitted.

When public staff suggest that if at possible he should go into the private hospital (and actually the dr went out of her way to get him into there which meant arranging for him to have a private psychiatrist which he hadn't had until that time), you feel that something is not right in the public system. I do thank her in my mind every time he has had to go to hospital. It was the best move he made.


Hyson Green is the private psych hospital attached to Calvary Hospital (which has both private and public beds). Whenever he has been admitted (a few times over the years) he has:
been able to have his own psychiatrist treat him (this is the biggest advantage)
has had group sessions on a variety of topics during the day
gone on bush walks with groups/ staff
had his own room/ensuite
had freedom have a coffee/snack whenever he wants in a common dining area
can have visitors throughout the day
been able to sign out and go out of the hospital for an hour or two (when deemed OK by staff)
had a 'sleep at home' night to see how he manages before discharge

The difference is huge. Hyson Green is a very caring environment and he knows that if he does need to go into hospital that he will be well looked after there. Hasn't been in for over 2 years (and then it was to move his medication to Clozapine over several weeks).

Hope that answers your question.

Thank you for sharing.

Can't imagine how someone gets resources and help when they are on their own or working with the overburdened public system.

 

[love_the_life]

Thank you for sharing.

Can't imagine how someone gets resources and help when they are on their own or working with the overburdened public system.

That's so very true. Perhaps the two biggest things we did to help our son was to make sure he had private insurance and to make him (as much as possible) be responsible for managing his illness. This means we have helped with housing other costs, taken him to appointments and topped up his money etc but in the long run we won't always be there so he needs to be in control. We speak nearly every day so can gauge if he is becoming unwell.
Interestingly as he has now gone onto Clozapine treatment, he is now in the public system to some extent. Because of possible side affects, only limited places can prescribe and manage patients on the drug. In Canberra, his psychiatrist handled the transition but it is the public health clinic that now does the month to month monitoring (blood tests and authority). There have been a few ups and downs with the clinic but overall it's been pretty good. The drug is working very well and he has kept pretty stable for quite a while now.
That does not mean that he would go into the public hospital though if he ever needed to - still would go to the private one.

As this is a thread on private insurance perhaps I should say he is with AHM and they have been very good (even in one case allowing us to pay up four months when he managed to get behind in his premiums and needed to be admitted that day). He is much more organised now and makes sure the money is there.

 

[Pushka]

Well I hit up BUPA today but still $450 out of pocket and they are only short of $180. One less tooth - process took an hour. The first dentist said that a root canal would not fix it as one root was broken, the other had spiralled at right angles and the other root was so long it was touching the sinus cavity. She sent me to an oral emergency surgeon. And the long took a lot of pulling. They drill the tooth into three. Two stitches. Totally numb still but I do have a codeine script if needed.

 

[love_the_life]

Well I hit up BUPA today but still $450 out of pocket and they are only short of $180. One less tooth - process took an hour. The first dentist said that a root canal would not fix it as one root was broken, the other had spiralled at right angles and the other root was so long it was touching the sinus cavity. She sent me to an oral emergency surgeon. And the long took a lot of pulling. They drill the tooth into three. Two stitches. Totally numb still but I do have a codeine script if needed.

Ouch. Hope it settles down well and no lasting problems. Custard and soups for a few days?

 

[Pushka]

Ouch. Hope it settles down well and no lasting problems. Custard and soups for a few days?

Well, so far normal but have to eat on right side. Glass of wine. Panadol. Fingers crossed.

 

[Milboo]

I asked NIB about the 4% and this is the answer I got via online chat:

We dont charge 4% more for credit cards, we offer a 4% discount for direct debit from a bank account. Therefore any other pay method, credit card, Bpay, cheque would appear to be 4% more, however this would be the standard rate.

Gotta love insurance companies.

Pretty sure the ACCC would be interested in this. It is excess charging for credit card use no matter what way you slice it!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Pretty sure the ACCC would be interested in this. It is excess charging for credit card use no matter what way you slice it!

Agreed.

That sort of a "surcharge" for bpay is also quite funny. I guess they would come back and say they have administration costs associated with these other payment methods, as they would require some manual checking I imagine, at least in the case of BPay?

 

[love_the_life]

Well, so far normal but have to eat on right side. Glass of wine. Panadol. Fingers crossed.

Dribble the wine?

 

[Renato1]

Thanks for that. Which fund were you with? I'll be ringing around to see who can do me a similar deal.

I am with Defence Health.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Not always a good idea. I think there are a few things to consider & it will vary with your circumstances
Tax trap of suspending your Private Health Insurance whilst travelling overseas | KK Partners

Interesting article, thanks.

It seems highly unfair and inequitable that the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) be levied on an entire year's income, if one suspended the cover for only a month or two. One would have thought that if the ATO was going to apply the MLS, it would be on the individual months where cover was suspended. I've checked the ATO website and can't find anywhere where this issue is addressed.

Anyhow, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't affect the vast majority of the vacationing self funded retirees and vacationing retirees on government superannuation pensions. It definitely wouldn't affect old age and disability pensioners on vacations.
Regards,
Renato

 

[RB]

Interesting article, thanks.

It seems highly unfair and inequitable that the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) be levied on an entire year's income, if one suspended the cover for only a month or two. One would have thought that if the ATO was going to apply the MLS, it would be on the individual months where cover was suspended. I've checked the ATO website and can't find anywhere where this issue is addressed.

Anyhow, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't affect the vast majority of the vacationing self funded retirees and vacationing retirees on government superannuation pensions. It definitely wouldn't affect old age and disability pensioners on vacations.
Regards,
Renato

Yep won't affect a lot of people but can be a gotcha. Another little thing that can get people

No insurance – Days of Absence gap in cover
You can go without any Hospital Cover health insurance for periods adding up to 1,094 Days of Absence in total (i.e. 3 years less one day). This is useful for small gaps when you are not covered by any private health insurance, such as when you switch from one fund to another. Once you have used up your total Days of Absence allowed (1,094 days), you will pay LHC loading of 2% on top of any previous loading you were already paying. The amount of LHC loading you pay will increase by 2% for every year you spend without cover after the 1,094 Days of Absence are used up.


LHC is lifetime Health Cover

 

[Renato1]

Yep won't affect a lot of people but can be a gotcha. Another little thing that can get people

No insurance – Days of Absence gap in cover
You can go without any Hospital Cover health insurance for periods adding up to 1,094 Days of Absence in total (i.e. 3 years less one day). This is useful for small gaps when you are not covered by any private health insurance, such as when you switch from one fund to another. Once you have used up your total Days of Absence allowed (1,094 days), you will pay LHC loading of 2% on top of any previous loading you were already paying. The amount of LHC loading you pay will increase by 2% for every year you spend without cover after the 1,094 Days of Absence are used up.


LHC is lifetime Health Cover

Thanks.
One learns something new every day!

Luckily, it won't affect me as I only started these long overseas vacations late in life.
Regards,
Renato

 

[amaroo]

Q...

What happens if you suspend membership and suffer an event where you are medivaced back to OZ?

Would your suspended health insurance auto kick-in?