Health & Family Singles vs Couples health insurance

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Jmillar, 26th Sep, 2020.

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  1. Jmillar

    Jmillar Well-Known Member

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    So I just got engaged last weekend... and trying to figure out whether I get couples insurance with my new Fiancé or whether she should get her own insurance.

    I'm 28yo, high income (top bracket/0% rebate) and have health insurance with Medibank (went through a process of comparing all the insurers about a year ago and they came up trumps for what I needed). PHI works out a lot cheaper for me than MLS.

    Fiancé is 23yo, income of around $70k pa (25% rebate) and doesn't have private health insurance.

    We're aiming to have kids in around 2 years time and would like to have PHI.

    I guess I'm just wondering... Is there any real benefit to having couples insurance rather than 2 singles insurance covers? I need to do a few quotes to compare but from what I've read, it's not necessarily cheaper to have couples insurance. Plus it doesn't allow flexibility to have different levels of coverage (I don't exactly need pregnancy cover ;)).

    I'm thinking having 2 x singles policies would be better - for me I will get 0% rebate but need it as it's cheaper than the MLS. For her, she's better off doing her own and getting a 25% rebate and having coverage for pregnancy and birth services etc.

    Am I missing any benefits of having couples insurance I haven't considered?

    Thanks
     
  2. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Congratulations to you both. :)

    Sounds to me like your fiancé may be better off for now with her discount, and her own cover, especially if the cover you choose together includes maternity (only one of you will need that). She can always change later, and you could combine when it suits your circumstances better.

    Do check though if you are able to be in a relationship or marriage and keep separate cover. I can't see why not though.
     
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  3. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    I believe that the rebate is still calculated separately even if you have a couple policy

    Taken from Income thresholds and rates for the private health insurance rebate

    But yes you may find that there is 2 policies that suit your needs better than one policy. The main thing to watch out for when you have 2 x single policies is to change one of them to family when the time comes and then it might be cheaper to go onto a family policy to cover 3
     
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  4. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    This makes sense. Family policies seem to be the same price as couple policies. So adding a child to a single policy probably means you are paying for a "family" policy from that time onwards.

    Once you go from single to couple, it didn't cost us more to add children as they were born. I'd assume all (most?) policies would be the same.
     
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  5. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    Yes generally it's no extra for 1 or 10 children but the coverage for the first baby needs to be considered. For some policies for the baby to be covered at birth the policy needs to be changed during pregnancy to family.

    Also most have 12mth pregnancy coverage waiting period so needs to be taken out well before you start trying - and then add in a couple more months just in case your baby decides to come early - so you'd need this type of coverage probably 14mths before you start trying.
     
  6. dangoldman12

    dangoldman12 Member

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    sorry for bump, but my question is:
    how much have you paid for your couple insurance?
    I'm planning to get it as well.
     
  7. dangoldman12

    dangoldman12 Member

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    any help would be appreciated!
     
  8. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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  9. Millie

    Millie Well-Known Member

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    We have a family policy, with a high-ish excess, to reduce the cost of the premium.
    One piece of good news I only discovered today is that student-dependants don’t need to pay the excess when claiming. Bonus!
     
  10. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    It's a really nice thing isn't it? It's come in handy in our family for the kids.
    Also no excess on day surgery in our policy.