help me choose private health insurance

[supermumof3]

im thinking of having my last child through the private health system although i have no cover. as im aware there are waiting lists so im thinking of joining now in the anticipation of ttc in a few months time. basically i have no idea what im looking for and i need help. which insurer do i go with? basically im only looking for insurance for this pregnancy and birth after which i intend to withdraw from the fund. i want to be out of pocket for visits, hospital stay and possible c section as little as possible:laughing:. id be intending to deliver at north gosford private. any help, advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated as i know basically nothing about private health insurance. tia

[Mummaholic]

We are with MBF, they are decent, I have also heard Medibank Private and Defence Health are great.

I found I got better price quotes by asking the provider rather than that iselect thing.

I get quite a bit back from my med bills and we pay a $1000 excess when admitted to keep our premiums down throughout the year. No co payment.

[shanz]

if you check out iselect(google it) it can be very helpful.
We are with NRMA(which is MBF) but has benefits, like multi policy discounts etc because we have our other insurances through them too.

[mum2bub78]

Hi. I used Iselect and funny enough when I kept changing my options, I kept getting the same company. makes me wonder how much they pay to be part of the iselect website. plus, not a huge variety.

I was with Australian Unity for many years. When I got the letter detailing our new amount per month I nearly fell over! I found a company called Peoplecare, and not only are they much cheaper the cover I have with them is better than Australian Unity!

However, always read the fine print and make sure it is right for you!

[Izy]

I select is not reliable! The recomendations will depend on how much the fund is paying them.

The best advice I can give you is to go for a cover with no exclusions, no restricted benefits, and no benefit limitation periods.

That sounds kinda scarey but if you say that to the fund you are talking too they will get it... The thing is you don't want to have stuff not covered, cause you never know what might happen..

Will post more later but I'm being called for dinner

[MilkOnTap]

Australian Unity cover midwifery care up to $3K rebate. Most independant midwives charge between $2.5-$5K so you would be covered nicely.

Best part is, you dont even have to leave home for all of your pre-natal checkups! Kidlets can still be happy at home and you can chillout with a cuppa tea for an hour long chat, instead of an hour long wait in a surgery and a 10 min chat :)

[bridee]

I'm with GMHBA I don't rate there service but I have not been able to find a fund that covers what they do for a cheaper price plus if you take out hospital and extra's there is a bonus system so you can claim extra money using this system. When I had DD using the points I was able to claim the $300 charge by the aneathisist (sp).

[kylza]

I am with nib, just be careful with whoever you choose as I know some health funds have a 24 month waiting period on pregnancy and hospital cover.

[zenifa]

I am due to see a Private Health Insurance broker, so I will let you know what that experience is like.

I am currently with medibank private but looking to change.

[Babymaker]

Australian Unity cover midwifery care up to $3K rebate. Most independant midwives charge between $2.5-$5K so you would be covered nicely.

Best part is, you dont even have to leave home for all of your pre-natal checkups! Kidlets can still be happy at home and you can chillout with a cuppa tea for an hour long chat, instead of an hour long wait in a surgery and a 10 min chat :)

:detective: Just wondering if Australian Unity cover midwifery for a home birth? I am with SGIO and they will cover the cost of an independant Mid only in a medical facility.

[MilkOnTap]

:detective: Just wondering if Australian Unity cover midwifery for a home birth? I am with SGIO and they will cover the cost of an independant Mid only in a medical facility.

I'm pretty sure they do - up to $3K :) I'm having a homebirth in December and they were one of two private health insurers who would cover home-based midwifery care.

The other insurer is Defence health - which of course you need to be a defence member to have access to :)

[Babymaker]

The other insurer is Defence health - which of course you need to be a defence member to have access to :)

:idea: Ahhh back to the army for DF it is then!!! :detective: do Defence Health have waiting periods??

[Izy]

All funds have waiting periods (those special waivers are only ever for 2&6months). But if you have cover at the moment you should be able to get continuity.

[Mama2Mia]

hi there,

We joined AHM back in January and i have to say i've been really impressed with them thus far.

We have the family hospital + family extras covers and pay $227ish/mth (after 30% rebate). It used to cover things like kids swimming classes and other great stuff (they still do but i think you need a doctors note now) like cancer council UV products which we have just bought $400 worth yesterday (and not a cent out of our pockets for this....well apart from the monthly premium).

Obstetrics have a 12mth waiting period unlike alot of other funds who have a 24mth waiting period.

i thought their premiums were very reasonable compared to others and covered more of the things we were likely to use (e.g. uv products such as sunglasses, sunscreens, hats etc) and get our money's worth so-to-speak :laughing:.

we've tried using the iselect website and we too kept getting the same results...although AHM are one of the providers on their website...i think they only have a select few so it doesn't give you the best unbiased recommendations in my view.

hope this helps!

[zenifa]

I saw a private health insurance broker today and it was a great experience. It is free, they have access to all 38 private health insurers in the country (except Defence Health for obvious reasons) and can give you comparisons between your current cover and other companies - depending on your needs.

I've got a bit of info overload and need to look over the info in more depth before we decide but the AHM was one of the ones recommended.

If anyone is in Brisbane and wants the details PM me.
Its free and totally obligation free - no catch!

[onemummmy]

Im with MBF and have always thought they were brilliant, pre baby and post ...

:iagree:

[teen17]

we have just switched to Latrobe from AHM cos we found that theyre family care n premier family extras are better value than AHM was with family hospiatl n basic extras...

plus theyre the only fund that has a 9mth waiting period for obstetrics n pregnancy n birthrelated things!! :D

[Nic71]

I'd agree with the others ... avoid ISelect .... it gave us the same recommendation no matter what I changed in our details. :no: Which made me wonder if they are getting kick-backs or commissions from those providers.

We're with GMHBA who are fantastic with Extra's and hospital cover, but the actual Dr's bill isn't fully covered.

Even with private health cover you will be out of pocket. Your OB visits are not covered by Private Health, but Medicare, so you will be out of pocket there, plus the OB's Management Fee isn't covered under Private Health.

[gabETandme]

IM WITH HBA. lol I sound like the add

I pay around $215 per month for Hospital saver plus nil excess and Silver extras.

They are fantastic.

I had my DS at the only birthing hospital in Launceston QVMU with a private OB. DS was in the Special care nursery for two weeks and they allowed me to stay in my own room in the hospital for the whole time.

There were other mums whom got kicked out of their rooms because their private health insurance did not cover it.

DS was also covered in the SCN the whole time as well.

I cant recommend them enough.

[Sissy]

I'm with Medibank Private, and am about to have my 3rd c-section while being covered by them.

Private obs fees are not covered by private health insurance, rather by medicare, so your provider shouldn't make any difference to those fees.

As far as hospital fees, I pay a $200 excess per stay (although they do have policies where you don't pay any excess, although the premiums are higher), and I had a gap to pay on the anethesist (sp?) (which was higher cause both births were on the weekend :rolleyes:) and also for the peadiatrician. I think both worked out to be $500 all up.

But, Medibank has a package bonus, which is a yearly bonus of up to $600 per person covered under the policy, and it is dependant on the $amount of claims during the year. So, a 5 day hospital stay gave me the full $600 bonus. And with that you can claim your excess or any gap payments, so I got nearly all my out of pockets back.

I hope that made sense!

Oh, and I believe Medibank Private are the only insurer that covers your partner to stay in hospital. It cost us $0 fo DH to stay, otherwise it costs $50 a night from memory.