# Private medical insurance why is it needed?



## surfbum99 (Feb 19, 2008)

Hi,


I was wondering do I need private medical insurance on top of the 1.5% medicare levy from the your imcome?

I know that high earners have an additional 1% if they don't have private medial insurance, but why do you need private medical insurance if you already pay medicare?

And also what is better pay the private medical insurance or opt out and pay the additional 1%?

Alistair


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## surfbum99 (Feb 19, 2008)

surfbum99 said:


> Hi,
> 
> 
> I was wondering do I need private medical insurance on top of the 1.5% medicare levy from the your imcome?
> ...



AH found it!!


Which medical services are not covered by Medicare?
Not all medical treatment is covered by Medicare. Private healthcare in a public or private hospital, ambulance transport, dental work and optometry are examples of services which fall outside Medicare cover. Many people decide to purchase private health insurance to cover some or all of these areas.


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## interplanetjanet (Jan 7, 2009)

I don't really see the point in private insurance. Ambulance cover is very cheap. Medicare doesn't cover optometry or dentistry, but if you save up the money you paid per month on private insurance, it would be more than enough to cover your annual dental and optometry needs.


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Yes, but there is a loading penalty for every year you don't have Private insurance above age 30. Here's the topic:
How to avoid the age loading fee on your private medical insurance | Getting Down under

You can do the sums, but I've found having Private Insurance worth it ($65/month pre-tax). I get to use Private Hospitals, Dental, Eyecare. It's easily paid itself after one hospitalisation or the dental expenses.






interplanetjanet said:


> I don't really see the point in private insurance. Ambulance cover is very cheap. Medicare doesn't cover optometry or dentistry, but if you save up the money you paid per month on private insurance, it would be more than enough to cover your annual dental and optometry needs.


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## interplanetjanet (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah, but if you don't get private insurance, then you don't have to pay a loading fee anyway. I'm not sure we'd have a 12-months exemption anyway, since my husband is a citizen and has had Medicare for years. I looked into private insurance for my family, and it was a lot more than $65 per month. All the companies I got quotes from were more like $250 per month for insurance that was worth having over Medicare.

How does your insurance pay for itself over one hospitalization when one hospitalization doesn't cost you anything on Medicare (assuming you've met your gap, which isn't much anyway)?


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

For the one hospitalization, it paid for itself very well. I pay $65 as a single, the $250 sounds like a family rate (all family + kids) and a bunch of the extras. If I only depended on Medicare I'd first have to wait (as it was not an urgent case) and I'm used to going to a hospital if I need hospital and not onto a waiting list. 



interplanetjanet said:


> Yeah, but if you don't get private insurance, then you don't have to pay a loading fee anyway. I'm not sure we'd have a 12-months exemption anyway, since my husband is a citizen and has had Medicare for years. I looked into private insurance for my family, and it was a lot more than $65 per month. All the companies I got quotes from were more like $250 per month for insurance that was worth having over Medicare.
> 
> How does your insurance pay for itself over one hospitalization when one hospitalization doesn't cost you anything on Medicare (assuming you've met your gap, which isn't much anyway)?


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## interplanetjanet (Jan 7, 2009)

There's only a wait for non-immediate procedures. If it's an emergency or life-threatening, there's no wait. Whether or not you mind waiting for such things is a matter of choice. I don't mind, so long as I get the care I need when it's really important. It's not like you have to wait for emergencies or urgent procedures.

I didn't add many extras to end up with that $250 quote - only those that would make private insurance worthwhile to me. I don't think it's worth it to pay money just to go to a private hospital. If I'm going to pay extra, then I want extra (i.e. dental, optometry).


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## Shell09 (Nov 5, 2008)

would anyone have advise on which private healthcare provider to go with? I am going to be entering australia on a temporary 5 year visa and from what I can tell there is the great possiblity that the aus gov are going to ask me to take out private cover ..... )


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

Hba.....................................................


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## Shell09 (Nov 5, 2008)

Thanks Halo ... will have a look


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

You can also look at Medibank Private, they also have a Visitor cover.



Shell09 said:


> would anyone have advise on which private healthcare provider to go with? I am going to be entering australia on a temporary 5 year visa and from what I can tell there is the great possiblity that the aus gov are going to ask me to take out private cover ..... )


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## Shell09 (Nov 5, 2008)

Thanks amaslam ... will look at that one too!


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