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:

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:

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.