Help with choosing PHI but not sure about hospital and ob yet

[PrettyParrot]

Hi everyone, I am planning to have first baby next year so would like to join a health fund asap so I can start serving the waiting period. However, I am not sure about which ob or hospital to go for yet(still investigating), so would like some advice on which healthfunds in general would be good for my situation? I heard you could switch fund and still carry the waiting period however I want to avoid that if I could as there might other hidden cause you only found out later on.
Here are a list of PHI I have in mind:
1.La trobe: only 9 month waiting period but doctor list is small.
2.Medibank: all sounds good apart from more expensive.
3.AHM & HBA: have friends with them but they both had baby a while ago so things might change.

Any of your thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

[PrettyParrot]

Further to this, I just called I-select and they recommend HCF Topplus hospital cover ( no extra). It is $109.95/m with no excess.

Anyone is on this cover or know about it?

Thanks again.

[nat278]

I was with HCF for a while when I first had PHI but never made any claims so can't help with that side of things but I do know their customer service was good anytime I spoke to them.

I am now with Peoplecare and couldn't be happier with their claims (paid by cheque in my mail box 7 days after submitting 2 way claim with medicare) and customer service.

When it comes time to choose an OB for my next bubba I will check their list and pick one from there it will help me narrow down the possibilities :p

I have heard that Latrobe although have short waiting period theyt have higher out of pocket costs so may be worth checking into that before making your choice.

hope you find a fund that suits your needs and your TTC journey is short :yes:

another website that may be of interest is www.helpmechoose.com.au (http://www.helpmechoose.com.au) it is like Iselect. it is how I found our current fund.

[Izy]

la trobe- Good price, shorter waiting period, but a very unique benefit schedule that often results in significant out of pockets

Medibank- Good fund. Traditionally quite upfront on covers

AHM and HBA- as with Medibank, are all good funds

So that you know iselect is paid by the funds. As in the funds pay them to advertise specific products. They are not very good at applying a real needs analasys. I did a few 'tests' myself with them and they recommended products twice the cost of my MBF product and covering less :rolleyes: OMG that helpmechoose seems really good though!

Things that I recommend you check for...

Try to find a non-exclusionary product. It's tempting to remove or restrict services, but things like heart attack, or heart complications in children can happen without warning. You don't want to have something happen and have to suddenly serve upgrade waiting periods for the sake of a few dollars a week.
Make sure that they cover PRIVATE HOSPITAL, PRIVATE TREATMENT in the hospital you want to visit, or see if you can find a list of their agreement facilities. Ask about their Dr's gap program. Each fund has their own.

And in the mean time, pick a cover and get started but keep on looking. It really is a simple process to change, and you are seldom disadvantaged by changing funds. It's a little scary to think about, but it's often beneficial to the person changing :p

Oh... and make sure your excess or copayment is something affordable in the unfortunate circumstance that everyone has to be admitted to hospital... JIC.

[PrettyParrot]

Thanks for your kindly advice Nat and Izy, really appreciated, especially what Izy mentioned about being more inclusive, that's something I haven't thought about..

I will probably be going for HCF Topplus with a general extra package after I spoke with a lovely lady from Help Me Choose. I agree with what Izy said about iSelect, not impressed by their service, same with medibank, the girl was just repeating the content in the policy even I asked any specific question. I have to admit that I am a big customer service person as I used to work in call centre myself, so I could feel the difference straight away when someone is actually listening to you and care about your needs. Since I only have to pick up one to start serving, I will go with someone I feel more comfortable with.

BTW, I was told that HCF is the only fund still gives you full ambulance cover in their hospital cover, is this true? I have been told differently from talking to different people, but again the girl from HelpMechoose explained the different terms used in health funds and she used to work for hcf, so she confirmed HCF are still a full cover, not sure anyone knows? I know it is not a big deal to buy a separate ambu cover but would like to be certain, as medibank also told me their ambu cover is full, but the other girl told me medibank is not, who should I trust, hehe...

[nat278]

Peoplecare covers 100% of ambulance too, even if they treat you at scene and no hospital transport is needed.

My last fund covered ambulance ONLY if you got taken to hospital for 'emergency' so on scene treatment was NOT covered or if like for my last baby I needed ambulance to take me to hospital but it wasn't an emergency, I pulled the ligaments in pelvis at 39 weeks and needed assistance to travel to hospital so i could stay for last week of my pregnancy as DH couldn't get me in car and there on his own and given I birthed DS1 in 24 minutes DH refused to let me be at home alone while he was at work incase I went into labour and couldn't get to phone to call for help, so my trip in ambulance wasn't an emergency iykwim therefore wouldn't be covered (lucky I lived in QLD where it was covered under the levy you pay on electricity bill)

So that can be a catch with some funds regarding ambulance cover.