Health insurance

[Snoozie]

My simple understanding is that if you're single and earn over $50k or a couple and earn over $100k and don't have private health then you are taxed an additional percentage.

[Bec259]

Originally Posted by Snoozie

My simple understanding is that if you're single and earn over $50k or a couple and earn over $100k and don't have private health then you are taxed an additional percentage.

Yup, I did some friends tax last year & they earnt over $100 000 together & had to pay tax - they weren't happy (I'd be happy if we earnt over $100 000!)

Your best bet is just to ring around & explain what you're after, then compare them all.

[~karen~]

iselect is a great tool

as a fyi only medibank private is govt owned (we've been with them forever and only found that out last year)

a few things i'd suggest (from experience working in hospital systems and having had private cover for over 10years)

for folk going into it - i'd suggest hospital cover - as that allows you to choose your doc and/or hospital/private room. and can help you avoid any waiting lists. or have semi urgent/non urgent stuff attended to much quicker. if you have an emergency go straight to the nearest emergency dept - they have all the equipment/staff on hand - that is not a time to head to a private hospital imho

private health cover does NOT cover any doctor costs as an outpatient - ONLY as an inpatient.

if you want/need maternity cover that puts the price of insurance up considerably - therefore if you KNOW you won't be doing it again (ie are sterilised for eg) then drop the maternity bit asap.

for extras work out whether it's really worth it - by this i mean get your item numbers, check whether your practictioner does deals for private (ie our dentist does the equiv of private bulk bill if insured but it's actually dearer if you aren't insured. so if the item number says x procedure is worth $60, the dentist can charge anything over that - ours would only charge that rebatable price if one had insurance); some practitioners do deals with insurance companies - so they won't do the rebatable for all companies. and then find out if what you get back after paying insurance actually saves you money than if you just copped the bill yourself. (another eg. my physio - i pay $59 for 1/2 hour, insurance covers $25 i pay $34 - i go a LOT and my package bonus covers the extra bit for up to $200 - but i still don't think we're coming out ahead) we will be reviewing our h.i soon.

hth someone
hugs
karen