Health & Family Do u really need Health insurance?

Now Health insurance is back on the rise again It has become necessary to rethink needing it.

Reading Mister mostache blog he is right when saying we buy it only because " we might need it" just in case but may never need it .
In fact he has stopped it because he hasn'
Used it in 19 years.

Personally I have done away with the extras ..i couldn't see the need in getting say a lousy $15 refund on a chiro treatment ,Pyhsio etc etc

As for dental i was still paying gap fees anyway.
$37 per filling and i was on the Top Cover
HCF wants around $4000 in gap fees for several root canals...so I ditched their "extras"...i havent had the Root canals done yet and they are going ok but i will probaly go to Thailand next year and get 3x root canals done for less than HCF Gap fee .

..... so it leaves me with the Top "hospital only" cover for me at $200 a month which I will only use if something happens.

As Mister moustache says we are sold on this idea that something could happen and u need hospital treatment....you could have a heart attack....you could get this.. that.. etc and you could be on a 20 year waiting list in a public hospital etc etc they sell you on that .

In reality the plus to having PHI I had one of my knees done last year for a anthroscopy as I injured it doing heavy squats
I paid about $3000 in gap surgeon this including his assistant and his anaethithusts .
They wanted the money before the operation.
Had I waited on a public hospital nothing to pay..but yes maybe a waiting list of 1 year who knows exactly?.....but i wonder how much more if i paid in cash if i didnt have PHI? one of the websites says with a medicare rebate it would of been 7k ,so only 4k more .

But if u have a heart attack or get cancer you will get into a public hospital quick anyway.

In fact last year I was forced to go to a public hospital when my eye got a infection ..they sent me to Sydney eye hospital where I waited unfortunately 5 hours in casualty before seeing a doctor and told to come back the next day for a 2 day stay for treatment, despite having PHI no private hospital had the eye machines to look at my eye except the public Sydney eye hospital...so didn't
Cost me anything at all !!!

Maybe I will still keep my """hospital only ""insurance but the "extras" dental chiro etc seem to be a waste getting little bits back plus paying gaps for fillings etc

Even on a Taxation point of view I read recently where it could be no benefit to those even earning over 90k a year.

MAybe some accountants can confirm that?

It must be expensive for families to have PHI just in case ..... As Mister mostache
Says .. just in case a meoterite hits you or something but unlikely to happen.

 

There is the tax consideration as well. People on a higher income pay less tax overall if they have it. They should hope they don't have to use it because the gap can be expensive.

 

Not this again, that old chestnut.....

Nope

 

Yes but I did read somewhere the other day a Accountant saying it wasn' really worth it for those even earning over 90k a year and they weren't saving much.. I will try to find the article.

 

Does Mr M reside in US, if so he will most certainly need health cover.

 

Keep wasting your money on PHI if that' what you want to do.

But I do feel sorry for those with young families who have been trained or conned into thinking they are getting quicker and better health care for their kids by paying out up to $500 a month on PHI.

Odds on younger children with major illness will go to a public hospital for children anyway and get the same treatment as a public patient.

 

Side issue......Anyone hear about this, US health stocks went into free fall for perhaps one day

Amazon and Warren Buffett to create 'reasonable cost' healthcare company

 

In another life I have had to attend a public hospital and an admission was required. The question asked by admission "Do you have health insurance?" I considered, and still do, the incorrect one. The right question is "Do you wish to be admitted as a public or private patient?" Whether health insurance is held is no business of the hospital. What the patient's choice is. And after that decision there is another whether to use or not use health insurance. Only then should health insurance details be provided to the hospital. A degree of coercion abounds I reckon. Plus a large amount of cost shifting by the hospital.

Be admitted as a public patient and you will receive the best quality care which can be provided. If elective, be prepared to pay the gap if the treatment is under health insurance.

The another matter is the slightly false claims by health funds about choice of doctor. Unless it's an emergency, in which case you'll get either a Visiting MO or Resident MO so there is no choice, the referral to a specialist is via a GP who has a referral pattern. The patient is unlikely to to know very much about the specialist as they generally follow the GP's referral.

In the unlikely event, the patient does know of a top class specialist in the required field, I bet you if you live in Victoria and the specialist is in NSW, the health fund will refuse to cover your travel and accommodation cost to see that specialist in NSW. Should the specialist agree to come to VIC, you will then encounter the issue they can't because they probably do not have right of access to the hospital.

All in all, a crock.

Basic hospital cover if need be and pfft the rest.

 

@SatayKing, exactly. My flatmate thought he was having a heart attac so I rushed him to Royal Perth where he was immediately operated on by the head of Cardiology. Had to stay in a couple of nights. No cost.

For elective surgery, health insurance is good. For emergencies, keep your mouth shut.

An aquaintance had a heart attack... choice of surgeon, choice of hospital, private room... etc. All the best care and a fat $10k+ bill.

Good call on the "do you wish to be admitted as a public or private patient?" too. That is the perfect question that will never be asked.

 

Yes PHI is great for elective surgery.

 

Yes, I almost got angry with some of the misinformation provided by hospital management which is then parroted by some of the admin.

I worked up annual budgets for hospitals at one stage. The line used to go out to some departments to tell patients if they elected to use health insurance that money would go back to the specific department. Total crap. It'd come in as revenue, along with State funds of course, and there would be an annual budget allocated to treating areas. And that allocation could be more or less than the previous year's.

I reckon the percentage costs of operating them remains pretty consistent; 70% for salaries, superannuation, i.e. people, 15% consumables, 15% fuel, light, power and maybe some minor works. Major capital works, well, it's cap in hand to Gov saying Can I have some more, please?

Still think the public hospital system is pretty good though even in many rural ones. When I had my knee slashed open I was tended to by extremely competent health staff and I include the response team from the ambulance service.

If there is one insurance I will suggest it is ambulance cover. Cheap as at around $50 pa but, by heck, if you get a $600 ambulance bill even for a call out, you'll be grateful for paying that $50.

 

Depends on your income as once you go over a certain threshold you may as well have it.

Also depends on your station in life such as health, single, married, children etc.

 

waste of money

 

Finally did away with extras yesterday.. saving close to $150 a month.
If your young and fit you don’t need extras - your just subsidising the oldies in the same fund
Going to miss the massages though..

 

Yes ... but... what if you break your knee or something then you will be on a waiting list for surgery if you dont have PH cover .... does that worry you?

What about dental visits ? Do you just pay as you go ?

 

I would like to have it for choice of surgeon/no wait list for the off chance I need something done however I have never been able to justify the $350 a month it would cost us (and we are a young healthy family of 4). Every time I’ve ever had it it has never paid for itself. Used to be alright for pharmaceuticals when I needed travel vaccs but even those you no longer get the value back anymore. We would be out of pocket over 3k per year after Amy benefits claimed if we had it and that’s after paying Medicare levies etc

 

I pay as I go and I’m still in front. The annual caps and measley Amounts they give you back are still not worth it

 

Insurance makes sense when the cost of what it's covering outweighs your ability to pay for it. This is because the company selling you a policy has to make a margin on the likely payout.

From that point of view, extras doesn't make sense. Pay them out of pocket as needed.

But hospital cover is probably a good thing to have. In fact, one piece of advice I saw was to get the highest level possible (but skip the extras).

 

My wife and I haven't had private health insurance for 30 years and we are way ahead financially compared to having it. Keeping basically fit, eating right and maintaining a healthy weight range is the only health insurance we've needed.

 

No waiting list if you have the right GP
My partner had a shoulder operation recently, there are plenty of specialists who also perform procedures in PH for public patients
We have been down this road 3 times now, cost us nothing and no wait list

No need to panic folks.. seriously we have one of the best public health systems in the world