How the Federal Government
is improving Private Health to cover Australia's growing health
needs.
Australia’s health system is one of
the best in the world – a unique mix of public and private
health care designed to make sure all Australians are well
covered for their needs.
But with an ageing population, the
increasing cost of caring for more people with chronic conditions,
and continuing medical improvements, the demands on our health
system are going up and up. Medicare is the basis of our public
health system. It’s a first-class scheme. But it was never
meant to meet these demands on its own.
Private health insurance
also plays a key role in covering Australians’ needs. In fact,
more than a third of all hospital treatments are performed
through private health cover. If private health insurance
wasn’t there, there’d be huge pressure on Medicare. We need
a balanced, viable health care system, with public and private
cover working together.
And this is why the Australian Government
is making important improvements to the private health insurance
rules to:
Make it easier to compare what the different private health
funds offer;
Extend the range of services your hospital policy can
cover; and
Reward you for taking out and keeping private health insurance.
MAKING PRIVATE
HEALTH PRODUCTS EASIER TO COMPARE
Different people have different health cover needs and each
health fund has a variety of products to meet these needs.
Different terms, expressions and ways of presenting the information
often made it difficult to work out which policy from which
fund was best for you. So we’ve improved the system. The Australian
Government has made it compulsory for all health funds to
sum up their products in the same way. So now it’s easier
to compare different private health products - even if they
are offered by different funds.
A NEW PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE
WEBSITE
To make it even easier to compare all the different products,
the Australian Government has established a comprehensive,
independent website. The website is run by the Private Health
Insurance Ombudsman and includes a simple search facility
that makes it easy to find and compare all the products that
fit your needs. The website gives access to a standard summary
of every available private health insurance product from every
fund. The website also provides lots of other useful information
about private health insurance and links to private health
insurance publications and sites.
If you don’t have access to the internet,
just call 1800 307 446 and they’ll send you the information
you need.
MORE SERVICES COVERED
Until now, to have your medical treatments covered by your
private health insurance, you had to be admitted to hospital.
Even though there might be other ways you could be treated
just as effectively. But now your health fund can extend your
hospital cover to include medical treatments that are done
without you having to go into hospital. For example, dialysis
or chemotherapy undertaken in your own home, and programs
to manage heart disease and diabetes.
As these insurance policies are introduced,
you and your doctor will have much more flexibility to choose
how you want to be treated. Just speak to your health fund
to find out what new options they may be covering.
THE GAP. IT'S YOUR RIGHT
TO KNOW
Many people with private health insurance are concerned about
the gap. The gap is the difference between what a health fund
pays and what a particular medical service costs, which you
must pay out of your own pocket. Right now, more than 82%
of all privately insured medical services in hospital have
no gap at all. But you still have the right to find out what
gap, if any, there might be for your medical treatment. We’ve
produced a simple checklist to help you find out about any
gaps, from your doctor, health fund and hospital.
So before you begin your treatment
or hospital stay, you can feel confident in knowing whether
there will be a gap and how much it will be. You can collect
the gap checklist from your health fund, or call 1800 307
446 or simply download a copy here: Gap
Checklist (196 KB PDF)
HIGHER REBATES FOR OLDER
AUSTRALIANS
The Australian Government supports privately insured people
by giving them a rebate on their premiums for both hospital
and extras cover. Everyone with private health cover receives
a rebate of at least 30%. The Australian Government has increased
the rebate for older Australians. From the age of 65, you
get a rebate of 35%. When you reach 70, it goes up to 40%.
You have three choices of how to receive
your rebate:
You can reduce the premium you pay to your health fund;
You can claim it back at a Medicare office; or
You can claim it on your annual tax return.
Whichever way you choose to
receive it, the Australian Government rebate on private health
insurance is there to make private health cover more affordable
for more Australians.
IMPROVING LIFETIME HEALTH
COVER
Under Lifetime Health Cover, people who take out private hospital
cover before they’re 31 years old pay less for it than people
who wait until they’re older. That’s only fair. Otherwise
they would end up subsidising people who join at a later age.
So, if you’re around 30 years old,
and you don’t have private health insurance, you should seriously
consider taking it out now. Because after July 1 following
your 31st birthday, you will pay more. 2% more for every year
you wait.
For example, if you waited until you
were 40, you would pay an extra 20%. And until now you would
have had to pay that loading for the rest of your life. But
now the Australian Government has improved the rules. Once
you have held your private hospital cover for 10 continuous
years and keep it, you stop paying that loading. And those
10 years start from the day you first joined.
That’s a fair reward for those members
who have shown a long term commitment to the private health
system.
(Note: The information above
is an extract from the Federal Government Brochure which details
the recent private health improvements)
Gap
Checklist