Health Insurance - negotiating the best deal

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  spychiatrist on 18/10/2014 - 16:05

  Switching is no hassle as the new health insurance provider can do that for you. There should be better prices out there but it depends on what you require in terms of cover. I switched to hbf, WA only I think

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  oxmo on 18/10/2014 - 18:03

  Whatever you do, don't use iSelect!

  I would suggest contacting Medibank.

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  liquid metal on 18/10/2014 - 21:50

  +1

  https://www.betterbills.com/

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  jenki on 18/10/2014 - 21:55

  Agree with liquidmetal. I got the best deal for my partner via betterbills, plus we ended up getting approx $300 cashback. Their customer service is good too, and they can explain the small differences between policies (especially important if you plan to have the baby as a private patient).

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  Almost Banned on 18/10/2014 - 22:07

  I wonder if their answer is linked to the fact that health funds have to get approval from the government to change their rates… http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Conten…
  If so, they might be right that they can't just offer a different rate.

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  Elppa8 on 18/10/2014 - 22:17

  +1

  If your employed by a company ask BUPA if they have a corporate for that company.

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  pyramid on 18/10/2014 - 22:19

  I agree with better bills.They were awesome when I bought frank insurance via betterbills. There are referral bonus as well. Pm me if you need my referral and we both get $50. Or you can use any referral from wiki section.

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  srhardy on 19/10/2014 - 11:26

  GMHBA do a direct debit (bank account) discount of 2% and 5% discount if you have australian super
  http://www.australiansuper.com/superannuation/why-choose-aus…

  Use this site to search all heal policys and extras, click on PRICE to sort low>high

  My advice; Get health insirance and extras with different providers to get the best deal on both!

  EXTRAS (HERE IS MY COMPARISON OF EXTRAS)
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ark1XCw3-hTcdHl…
  MEDIBANK BASIC 70%
  AHM LIFESTYLE EXTRAS

  HOSPITAL
  PUBLIC ONLY PEOPLECARE PUBLIC HOSPITAL COVER WITH NO EXCESS
  PRIVATE CUA 65%,75% ($1000 COSHARE COSTS), HCIL $1000 COPAY (NO GOOD IF YOU PAY MEDICARE LEVY SURCHARGE AS IT HAS TO BE $500 OR LESS)

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  srhardy on 19/10/2014 - 11:38

  It would help tayo26 if you gave some basic info

  your gross wage, partents (that determines if you need to avoid medicare levy)
  health needs, if your young <30 then basic health for private might be all you need
  extras, if your needing chiro, massage & dental/optical
  STATE you live in….

  bang for buck ive always done hospital insurance and extras seperate as you never save combining and never get the best of both from the same provider.

  I like policys that cover you for everything, cardiac is too important for anyone to leave out IMO at any age! BUt then you will be covered as a public patient in a public hospital anyway…

  the cheapest, baic private hospital is GoVital at $66-gov discount per person
  http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/dynamic/download.ashx?id=HIF…

  the cheapest basic extras is BUPA BRONZE EXTRAS 60% at $22-gov discounts but i think Medibank Basic 70% at $35-gov discounts is better value.

  If under 30 i wouldnt buy private health hospital insurance until i was 30 but i would pay for EXTRAS as everyone need dental (fixed % back is always better value for you) optical, chiro ect… AHM Lifestyle is amazing value IF YOU CLAIM FOR EVERYTING AVAILABLE!

  If you have AUSTRALAIN SUPER (or you sign up fot it so you have the number) then go for the lower GMHBA offerings as the discount and then the gov rebate (of upto 29.04%) makes for some cheap coverage….

  EXTRAS ARE ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THEN HOSPITAL INSURANCE AS YOU CAN ALWAYS GO PUBLIC FOR HOSPITAL BUT THE GOV HAVE VERY LITTLE EXCEPT FOR HEALTH CARE CARD HOLDER AND EVEN THEN YOU CAN WAIT YEARS FOR ANYTHING!!!

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  tayo26 on 22/10/2014 - 08:33

  Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I was able to get a Corporate discount as someone on my policy works in a hospital. They didn't ask for any proof of this, so it might be worth others trying as well? I compared the prices offered by the corporate rate vs applying online, and it appears to be $25 a month cheaper, plus some of the limits are higher for extras. They also threw in the first month for free too.

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    srhardy on 23/10/2014 - 18:49

    what was the name of the plan(s)/extra's you settled on for cuosity sake? Given it was corp im guessing it was BUPA (who have lots of aggreements with gov/other insureres & hospitals ect)

    Just curious, help the next guy get a good deal too

    • 

      tayo26 on 24/10/2014 - 08:29

      +1

      No worries Srhardy - I went for the Corporate Hospital Top Level 3 with Silver Extras - Family.

      And can I recommend to everyone else - don't look at sites like compare the market' oriselect'. Once those vultures have your details they call you back every day, even after you have asked them to stop. I found a lot of the funds they recommended were relatively unknown and I didn't have a lot of confidence in them. If you do want to check them out for comparison, just enter a false mobile number!

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        srhardy on 25/10/2014 - 21:52

        +1

        Yeah, comparethe market, iselect & thoes dam insurance, funural plans that get all your info only to hassel you are my pet peeve too!

        My only adivce is to USE YOUR EXTRAS, all that you can, use it and use BUPA prefered members network to do it too, to max the amount and minimise the cost to you.

        My broInlaw, heaven help him has got all his teeth done; get a (slight) perscription and you can get glasses as sungalsses; ect… use as much as you can each, each year - its where you get your value from the plans is the extras!

        And stay healthy, better the hospital insurance you dont need…