Why you need health insurance

[p38arover]

I just received the health fund info for some of my 5 day trip to Macquarie University Hospital - Hospital $12,732, Surgeon $2200. That's over $2500 per day for the bed.

Admittedly, I was the only patient on the whole floor of the hospital (and their first ever patient in that ward) and I occasionally had 8 nurses to look after me.

The fund paid the lot!

Then there was the gasman and all the other costs (for which I am out of pocket).

[warren9981]

That's a good reason not to have health insurance in my book.
If you go in as a public patient you pay nothing. No gap. Nothing to pay.

Only problem is you might peg it before you get a chance to go in as the waiting lists are so long.;)

[p38arover]

Not being on a waiting list is, for me, a good reason to have insurance. Who knows how far the malignant bad stuff in my bowel would have progressed had I had to wait.

Ditto with having my shoulder operation (torn tendon) a year ago or an artificial lens put into my eye the year before. I like being able to see and to be able to lift my arm again. :)

But it is flamin' expensive to have insurance. :(

[bob10]

Not being on a waiting list is, for me, a good reason to have insurance. Who knows how far the malignant bad stuff in my bowel would have progressed had I had to wait.

Ditto with having my shoulder operation (torn tendon) a year ago or an artificial lens put into my eye the year before. I like being able to see and to be able to lift my arm again. :)

But it is flamin' expensive to have insurance. :(
Mate, you sound like you are going thru a bad trot, hope all is well now, all the best , Bob

[p38arover]

I'm getting along alright now thanks Bob.

The public health system does do some stuff quickly, e.g., the retinal detachments I had a couple of years back - but not my cataracts even though a patient being able to see must be better for the health system.

[LSD_AUTOMOTIVE]

I'll add to this - if nothing else, make sure you have basic ambulance cover.

I was stung by a wasp just before Christmas. I reacted, vomitting, difficulty breathing, tightness in my chest etc. Because it came on so quickly and we have a 6 mth old to negotiate we called an ambulance. The paramedics checked me and offered to take me in. I felt I had a handle on it, refused to go to the hospital, signed a release, on I went.

Three days later a bill arrived in my mail.
$779

HBF paid it in full...ambulance membership is something like $35 a year.

Sounds like a rough time, Ron! I hope you're on the mend now?

Sarah

[Barra1]

I have to second LSD Automotive's comments;)

Ambulance cover is an absolute must.

Ron, sounds like you have done all the voodoo, black cat, under a ladder etc etc stuff - a bit like your ability to buy faulty goods.:eek:

I hope next birthday you can say: What a rippa of a year.:D

[p38arover]

I was laying in bed last night and realised I'd written the wrong daily bed charge. It was over $2500 per day, not $1250.

Elisabeth would trade me in for something useful if she could.

[p38arover]

Ron, sounds like you have done all the voodoo, black cat, under a ladder etc etc stuff - a bit like your ability to buy faulty goods.:eek:

I hope next birthday you can say: What a rippa of a year.:D

So do I, so do I. Maybe I will. I'm halfway through my first year of retirement.

[Utemad]

Everyone in Qld has ambulance cover. Paid for by a levy on electricity bills.
I complain every year when the health insurance bill comes but private hospitals are very nice and it covers a lot of other things too.

[numpty]

I haven't had health insurance for about 15 years. To me, being fit and healthy, I consider it a waste of money at this time. I too had a shoulder op 2 years ago, but it was a compo claim.

I have worked on the principle that if I have to visit hospital, it will probably be from an accident, which should not preclude me being admitted.

Simplistic maybe, but that's how I see it.

[87County]

Not being on a waiting list is, for me, a good reason to have insurance.

...........

But it is flamin' expensive to have insurance. :(

In case there are any misunderstandings - it is NOT necessary to have health insurance to avoid any "waiting list" & be treated immediately by a specialist of your own choice - you just have to pay and you'll only get the medicare refund

....and that is still flamin' expensive

[Bundalene]

Private Health Insurance is a must as far as we're concerned. Especially when you have young children, or are getting older (sorry Ron, not meant to be directed at you - we are also in your age group).

Years ago when our daughter Sharon was at High School, she used to play touch football and during one game, suffered a fall which resulted in a detached retina. She was in Sydney Eye Hospital the next day having it fixed. She may not have been guaranteed such had we not been covered by Private Health Insurance.


Also, Ambulance costs..my Mother has been suffering seizures for the past 2 years and has been taken to Hospital probably 20 times during that period. I hate to guess what she would have had to pay if she had not been privately insured...she does not receive old age pension. She is now in a nursing home just 2 kilometers from a major Hospital and the last Ambo bill was for $600...one way.

So, yes, we would recommend it.

Erich

[p38arover]

I haven't had health insurance for about 15 years. To me, being fit and healthy, I consider it a waste of money at this time.

Being over 30, aren't you required to have insurance or to pay a tax (levy) instead?

My dental work in the past couple of years has hit the health fund pretty hard, too.

[THE BOOGER]

Being over 30, aren't you required to have insurance or to pay a tax (levy) instead?

My dental work in the past couple of years has hit the health fund pretty hard, too.

only if you earn over a certain limit

Medicare Levy Surcharge (http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/mls.htm)

I only have ambo cover used to keep private cover when the kids were younger over the last 16 years I have had 6 major ops (2 of them kidney transplants) and cateracts done the only thing I had to wait for was the cateracts. Most major hostpitals have a clinic just for people like me so we dont go throught emergency its straight in if needed:D

[Mudnut]

Having worked in both Private, and Public hospitals for the last 18 years. I have private health cover, especially with kids. I think it is important that we take some of the load off the Public system. It is good, but under stress. If we can afford it, we should be supporting it! We certainly don't want a system like in the U.S. where the HMO's dominate the health system.:eek:

My 2c worth.

Ken

[scarry]

We took out health cover when the kids were around 10yrs old,as we could afford it.Five yrs later one of them was diagnosed with leukemia,& spent a lot of time in hospital.Private cover paid the lot.

In the last 3 yrs,i have had two stays in hospital , both times the bills were around $6500,& the private cover paid all except the excess of $100.

My advise would be if you can afford it,have it.

[Tombie]

What annoys me is we have private cover.
And both of us pay the levy as well....
Not really an incentive.

[ScottW]

I haven't had health insurance for about 15 years. To me, being fit and healthy, I consider it a waste of money at this time. I too had a shoulder op 2 years ago, but it was a compo claim.

I have worked on the principle that if I have to visit hospital, it will probably be from an accident, which should not preclude me being admitted.

Simplistic maybe, but that's how I see it.

My mate, who is very fit and healthy, snapped one of the tendons in his knee playing soccer. The waiting list to get it fixxed was over 2 years. The cost to get it done immediately was over 9 grand if he just paid.

So here is a case of a 25 year old supporting a wife and two kids, running his own business as a concrete polisher (ie manual labor carrying heavy things) who was pretty much stuffed until he could get his knee fixed.

Coincidently, another mate and my girlfriend also buggered their knees within a month of it happening. I rang up my insurer to make sure I was covered if anything happened to me.

[roverrescue]

Mike,
The Medicare levy you pay (1.5% of taxable) is what mostly covers universal healthcare for Australians.
Assuming you make over the threshold (154k for a couple), by having private cover you are saved from an extra 1% of taxable as the Medicare levy surchage.

The levy covers the majority of the cost of outpatient medical services, subsidises medicines, funds public emergency departments and public hospitals. I can only imagine that Whyalla is like most of regional Australia. If you need hospital services it most likely aint gonna be private.

Just ask a non-resident, non-reciprocal who has had to use the public system without Medicare what expensive is...

Steve

[p38arover]

I understand from where Numpty is viewing it. It's called self-insurance and it can be cost effective.

For me, my medical expenses over the past few years have been well above what I've paid in total premiums for a number of years. (Thank you Defence Health) :

Rotator cuff surgery
Three detached retinas
Artificial lens in one eye
Bowel surgery due malignancy
Teeth veneers/fillings, etc.
Spectacles
Contact Lenses

and lots of other stuff. (I wonder if they'll pay for a vasectomy? :p )

and that doesn't include my wife's work...

[THE BOOGER]

The last I heard was that the 1.5% medicare levy covered less than 25% of the cost of running the public health system the rest come from the states and general fed revenue. In an emergency situation every body gets treated the same you dont usally get to tell them you have private insurance untill a couple of days latter:(

[roverrescue]

That is true. But if, essentially you didnt pay the 1.5% and didnt have a Medicare card or were not eligible... you would be responsibile for 100% of the M/C amount which adds up mighty quick.

If you are non-resident / from a non-reciprocal country and you are taken to emergency... you will of course receive the same service. Someone will ask you how you are gonna pay though!

S

[p38arover]

In an emergency situation every body gets treated the same

True. The problem is with what is considered elective surgery or, for some, non-urgent (in the eyes of the health system) surgery.

I believe (I may be wrong) that cataract surgery is elective so one can be on a long waiting list to get one's vision restored. To me that is wrong. A sighted person is less of a drain on the system than one who can't see.

NSW is particularly bad for waiting times.

See Spin doctors cut surgery waiting lists | The Daily Telegraph (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spin-doctors-cut-surgery-waiting-lists/story-fn6b3v4f-1225965672184)


Elective surgery patients are divided into three categories. Category 1 includes those deemed to be the most critical, with a surgery waiting time set for 30 days, while category 2 have 90 days and category 3 have a 365-day time frame.

When I had the shoulder surgery, the surgeon told me I'd have the most success if it was done within 3 months of the injury. Had I waited for the public health system, I'd still be waiting - more than 12 months later.

[THE BOOGER]

Yeh the only op I have had wait for was cateract surgery 12 months wait to go on the waiting list then I think 8 months on the list:mad:

My doc sent me to the Opthalmoligist? at liverpool hospital eye clinic both said i needed both eyes done they made another appt with the same doc at liverpool for 6 months I was given the impression that I was on the list, the appt ws put back by the clinic when I got there 12 months had passed I asked how long untill I went in they told me that the second appt would get me on the list and up to 12 monthe wait:eek:Becuase i only waited 8 months it makes the books look good but they dont count the wait to get on the list:confused:then only did one eye and told me to start again from the begining for the other eye :wallbash: The system has problems but its one of the better ones in the world so what do you do:)

[p38arover]

Crikey!

At least I only need one eye to be done when it needs to be done (it's not too bad at the moment). The other eye was fixed with the artificial lens (although I was without a lens in that eye for over 6 months)! :D

[THE BOOGER]

They took the cateract off and put the plastic lens in at the same time now I am only blind in one eye:p

[numpty]

Being over 30, aren't you required to have insurance or to pay a tax (levy) instead?

My dental work in the past couple of years has hit the health fund pretty hard, too.

Yes Ron, I'm over 30 (closer to 60 actually):) and I pay the levy. As said, my rotator cuff was done on compo. I visit the doc once a year for a checkup etc and have 3 yearly medicals (mandatory) paid for through work. Dental bills I cover myself along with anything that I "might" require to have done.

I had medical insurance when the kids were young, but discontinued it when it was felt it was no longer necessary.

Things may change in the future, who knows. At this time it's a risk I choose and am prepared to take.

[pfillery]

I'll add to this - if nothing else, make sure you have basic ambulance cover.

I was stung by a wasp just before Christmas. I reacted, vomitting, difficulty breathing, tightness in my chest etc. Because it came on so quickly and we have a 6 mth old to negotiate we called an ambulance. The paramedics checked me and offered to take me in. I felt I had a handle on it, refused to go to the hospital, signed a release, on I went.

Three days later a bill arrived in my mail.
$779

HBF paid it in full...ambulance membership is something like $35 a year.

Sounds like a rough time, Ron! I hope you're on the mend now?

Sarah

In queensland it is charged to everyone on our power bills so no cost to any Queenslander if you need the ambulance. Of course it means those who pay a power bill subsidise those who are on solar or generators and who do not have power connected. Not sure if it covers incidents in other states ie if I am in NSW and need an ambulance whether it covers me?