HELP/FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Like you, many people thinking of purchasing
private health insurance have questions that needed answering.
Once we have established a collection of questions, hopefully
you will find the answers to your questions here, if not please
fill out the form below and we will answer your query.
What are the benefits of taking
out private health insurance?
Private health insurance:
| 1. |
Lets you take control of your own
health and have peace of mind |
| 2. |
Gives you more flexibility and
choice over your treatment |
| 3. |
Means less waiting time for
elective procedures |
| 4. |
Lets you choose your own doctor |
| 5. |
Provides access to the best-quality
health care |
| 6. |
Takes the strain off the public
hospital system |
Am I too young to
have private health insurance?
You may think so but there are over 1.1 million young people aged between
20-30 who already value private health insurance and who have
claimed nearly $2.5 billion dollars for hospital admissions
in the past five years. When we are young and healthy, we do not
think about illness...but ill health can strike at any time.
Can I wait till I am older?
If you wait till you are aged
over 30 years to take out hospital cover, then you will have
to pay an extra 2 per cent for each year that you are over the
age of 30. But more importantly nobody knows when they will
need to go to a hospital. People of all ages require hospital
treatment. In fact:
| 1. |
One in five people
aged between 20 and 30 will go to hospital this year |
| 2. |
One in four people aged between
30 and 40 will go to hospital
this year |
| 3. |
One in three people aged between
50 and 65 will go to hospital
this year |
Do I get the 30 per
cent private health insurance rebate, or do the health funds?
You do. The 30 per cent private health insurance rebate is
for all individual Australians. The Government allows you
to elect to claim your rebate through the tax system, but
you can also choose to have the rebate used to reduce your
regular payments by the amount of the rebate i.e. 30 per cent,
and most people have chosen to do so. This means the day-to-day
cost of health insurance is reduced considerably for those
of us who do not want to wait until the end of the tax year.
Why is health insurance so
expensive?
Well, when compared with most other countries, it is not. And
we should remember that quality health care itself is expensive;
there is no doubt about that. Luckily, Australians have access
to the one of the best-value health insurance systems in the
world. The 30 per cent rebate has made cover much more affordable.
In fact when we compare the cost with average weekly earnings,
the rebate means health insurance costs us no more in real
dollars than it did in 1998.
I earn good money so can't
I pay to be treated in a private hospital when I need it?
No one wishes to be hospitalised.
In fact no one knows when they will need to use a hospital.
The costs of providing hospitalisation can be very, very high.
In the last two years the highest payment paid for by a health
fund was $630,400 for a 65-year old! When you do have the
unfortunate need to claim on your insurance that's when you
realise the value.
Is private health insurance
only for the rich?
No! Around 3.4 million people on household incomes less than $34,000 per annum have private health insurance, 5.6 million people on household incomes less than $50,000 per annum are privately insured.
Why are policies so confusing?
Health isn't a simple issue, and people like to be able to
choose what suits their lifestyle and their family, so health
funds have tried to devise different products to meet those
needs. Health funds are more than happy to talk to members
and explain all your questions in detail.
I believe that private health
insurance does not take pressure off the public system, am
I right?
This is not true! Health funds paid for 3.1 million hospital episodes last year in 2009 - at a cost of $8.6 billion. Without private hospitals, health funds and their members, the State hospital systems would have had to treat those patients, which would have placed an enormous burden on the State hospital systems if they would have had to find space for all those extra people. |