9 Responses to “What Are The Pros And Cons Of Private Health Insurance?”

1. 

   boutrosb said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 8:47

   I take it you are in Australia (and this info I present is only relevant for here).
   The first thing is the cost:
   If you earn over $50,000 (including fringe benefits) as an individual, or $100,000 as a family (with no or 1 child; $101,500 for 2 kids), then if you don’t have private health insurance, you are subject to the medicare levy surcharge of 1% of your income. This is addition to the medicare levy which you would have to pay anyway (which is 1.5% of your income). So if you don’t have private health insurance, you have to pay more anyhow and you can usually pick up a cheap level of private health insurance which gives you dental, physio, etc for not much more than you would have to pay for the medicare levy surcharge anyway. Aust Unity has gap free dental if you go to their specific clinics (on all levels) and other companies have similar arrangements (usually it is worth to get just for dental alone)
   If you don’t have private health insurance and wish to purchase, for each year over 30 that you initially join, you are slugged with another 2% of the premium of the private health insurance cover you purchase (as an incentive for younger people to get and maintain insurance). So if you think you may need it in the future, then that is another reason to consider as you will have to pay more.
   Coverage and gap:
   With lower levels of cover, there is a larger gap $$ for service. You can pay more to get a higher level of cover with less gap (even then, there are often some additional costs) but you have to way up what works best for you – pay less for the premiums and more gap if you actually need to go to a private hospital / need physio etc, or pay more for the premium and pay less if you need to use the service.
   For hospital stays, you can elect to be a private patient in a public hospital (where your insurance pays for all your costs) or go to a private hospital where there most likely will be some level of gap (depending on your level of cover).
   Private health insurance is excellent if you need elective surgery (ie not needed immediately but still needed). For example, if you need a knee reconstruction, the wait in the public healthcare system may be a year but if you go privately, you can have it done whenever you like (and by whomever you like). There are some procedures which you will not find completed much in the public system that you might only be able to get in the private system (eg some hip operations).
   If you need emergency surgery, it will get done immediately whether you are public or private (and even if you have private insurance, you can elect to go public).
   Obviously for obstetrics, it is a bit late for this time, but you need to factor that in as well for the future.
   As someone who works in the public system, there are some things that are done much better in the public system than in private. If you require rehabilitation or additional assistance at home following an injury or illness after a hospital stay, the aftercare provided through the public hospital system is more expansive and we have access to services that we can put it (at no or little cost to patients) that you would have to pay full price for if you were not seen in the public system.
   I have hospital and extras cover at one of the lower levels – I use dental & massage and essentially get more that my money paid out of those things alone than what I pay for the premium (and that’s not considering the extra $$ I would have had to pay for the medicare levy surcharge. I have had elective surgery and chose when, who and where my surgery was done and even with my lower premium, I was only out of pocket a few hundred dollars (out of a $5000 procedure)
   iselect.com.au gives you comparisons for the cost with the various companieshttp://www.privatehealth.com.au/ gives you important info
2. 

   lizzielo said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 9:43

   My husband and I have been in a Health Fund for years and are now senior citizens. We were contemplating pulling out and my husband happened to mention it to a specialist he was visiting. He said we were at the age when we might need knee/hip replacements etc. I am glad we did not pull out the following year I had a total knee replacement done and the total cost with surgeon, hospital, pathology etc. came to over $20,000. It was performed within four weeks of my initial visit to the surgeon. I could not have waited for seven years on the public system because of the severity of the pain.
   One never knows what the future holds for ones health so I would give the matter of joining a Health Fund a lot of consideration. Do research as to what your needs are ie dental, optical, podiatry, etc. and then add on other items as and when you need them.
3. 

   Insurance Pickle.com said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 10:05

   You can’t do anything until after October, but if you buy the right plan there are no gaps or only very minor ones. The difference between group coveraeg and individual coverage is that group costs twice as much because it’s easier to qualify. You can’t get turned down for group so EVERYONE pays more to cover the unhealthy. With individual you do get turned down or charged more based on your health. Since you have a healthier pool of people the cost is less.
4. 

   Gilliana said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 12:29

   There are no pros about health insurance. If you are healthy you can always be in this condition. First you must change your culture of excesses. Eat plain simple healthy meals . Two light and two just sufficient (till you are about full) Your body is like a clock and will function as such. Do everything on time. Half hour brisk walk, a handful of walnuts in between, drink plenty of water and be in bed by 9.30. You will notice after a fortnight that you are regular and most importantly your face will radiate with good health. You will be slim and trim and fit as a fiddle. If you feel hungry in between chew a stick of celery or eat a small carrot. Good luck to those who take my advice.
5. 

   jagsea said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 14:32

   There are gaps above what your fund pays HOWEVER as a health professional it is the bonus of being able to choose my own doctor and hospital and know I am having someone with the experience I want looking after me.Also the wait for elective surgery is DRASTICALLY reduced e.g if your child needed their tonsils out it may be a 2 year wait as a medicare patient.I had to have hand surgery and once I saw the surgeon I could have had it done the following week.Also I am covered for ambulance and dental.In NSW there is NO cover for ambulance unless you pay it yourself and it can add up to $1000′s
6. 

   Abadboy said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 16:13

   This was in todays headlines.
   As usual: do`nt trust anyone, but use your own judgement.
   Medicare may collapse in five years: NSWJune 3, 2009
   There’s limited time to reform the nation’s health system amid fears Medicare could collapse within five years, the NSW government says.
   NSW Health director-general Deborah Picone has given a dire prognosis for the current system, saying Australia is heading towards US-style user pays.
   Prof Picone says cost escalations mean universal health care could collapse within five years.
   She is pushing for a system where funding from the commonwealth and states is pooled and then redistributed.
   NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca backs her claims.
   “Prof Picone and many, many commentators in the medical system … are telling me that we have a limited window of opportunity to preserve the great public hospital system that we have,” he told reporters.
   “To make the decisions, the changes and confront the problems and make sure we hand on this great hospital system onto the next generation.
   “I’m taking up that challenge.”
   Mr Della Bosca said he believed talk of the commonwealth taking over the health system was not a threat but proof Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wanted to fix it.
   “We’ve got the opportunity for a new collaborative partnership with the Rudd government … to come to grips with the immediate problems in the hospital system,” he said.
   However, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has rubbished Prof Picone’s claims.
   “I think that is a nonsense for us to say that public and free health care is dead,” she told reporters in Canberra.
   “The commonwealth is absolutely committed to ensuring that people can have access to high quality care whether it is through their GPs or whether it is in public hospitals.”
7. 

   justme said on Monday, September 28, 2009, 18:00

   Research what is available to you and ask those who have it what they like and do not like about it.in other words, make an informed decision.
8. 

   Midge said on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 0:43

   My husband and I cannot afford private health, if we could we would have no hesitation joining. You can choose your own doctor and no waiting lists. If you can afford it – do it!
9. 

   playtime said on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 6:38

   There are no pros to private health care its all CON