Private Health Insurance - Is it Worthwhile?

[Smurf1976]

I won't go into details on a public forum but suffice to say that a close family member has been in hospital with a serious condition since Tuesday last week.

I must say that the standard of care provided in the public system (Royal Hobart Hospital) has been excellent. Despite the apparent funding constraints imposed on public hospitals, and in some cases those constraints are unfortunately obvious, staff there are clearly doing their best and deserve full credit for their professionalism.

Private cover wouldn't have helped in terms of actual medical care so far as I can tell. More space and privacy perhaps but not with the actual medical treatment which from my layman's perspective appears to be first class.

 

[SmokeyGhost]

I do hope your relative recovers.

I am ambivalent on health cover. My family have used the public health system a couple of times as well as private hospitals. In both, a more than satisfactory level of care was provided. However, I do consider when using public the question on admission "Do you have private health cover?" is wrong. It should be "Do you wish to be admitted as a public or private patient" is more appropriate. The matter of private health cover should not be relevant at that stage. On each occasion we have used the public system, I simply tell admission area it is public. They have no right as far as I am concerned to know of my financial arrangements.

Also I feel the claim from health funds you have a choice of doctors is slightly misleading. Usually, a GP refers to specialists known to them not you. And if I should know the best surgeon in the world who is say located in Queensland, there is no way a hospital in Melbourne would allow that surgeon to operate as they don't have access rights. The health fund is certainly not going to cover my costs of traveling to Queensland. So I reckon your choice, for want of a better word, is very limited.

 

[SirRumpole]

I'm thinking of giving up private health insurance as it's getting too expensive.

In other forms of insurance, if you don't make claims, you get a no claim bonus. Health insurance premiums should reduce the longer you have been in a scheme, but they only increase, and will do so at a greater rate once Medibank "Private" is privatised.

 

[drsmith]

I'm thinking of giving up private health insurance as it's getting too expensive.

Information on government surcharges & incentives in relation to private health insurance can be viewed from the following page,

http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/

 

[SirRumpole]

Information on government surcharges & incentives in relation to private health insurance can be viewed from the following page,

http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/

Thanks Doc

 

[sydboy007]

I won't go into details on a public forum but suffice to say that a close family member has been in hospital with a serious condition since Tuesday last week.

I must say that the standard of care provided in the public system (Royal Hobart Hospital) has been excellent. Despite the apparent funding constraints imposed on public hospitals, and in some cases those constraints are unfortunately obvious, staff there are clearly doing their best and deserve full credit for their professionalism.

Private cover wouldn't have helped in terms of actual medical care so far as I can tell. More space and privacy perhaps but not with the actual medical treatment which from my layman's perspective appears to be first class.

The only benefit I see with PHI is being able to jump the queue for elective surgery.

If you need care now, there seems to be little benefit in terms of the actual treatment, and in some cases you can be left with a lot of out of pocket expenses if treated as a private patient.

At my income level it's cheaper to get useless PHI rather than pay the extra tax. Crazy that we have such a stupid situation like this. Very inefficient. Would be better to have the funds flowing into the public system with the private hospitals providing some competitive tension for those who would like faster treatment.

 

[Logique]

I admit upfront that I haven't read through the thread.

Have just seen Health Minister Sussan Ley on the ABC National Press Club address today.

This is a crackerjack Health Minister. Her proposal for patient control and portability of personal health records is inspired and long overdue.

Sussan Ley is consultative, she listens, she is across the brief. She is from a regional electorate and understands the issues. (No I am not a member of her staff).