Please throw me ideas on how to best ensure I have the optimal level of care and medical attention to prepare for a baby with the lowest cost
My friend told me to get private health 12 months before trying for the baby as there's waiting period
Any other ideas?
Good in theory, but some babies are born premature, or develop problems in utero.
As long as the doc writes a letter to say that if the pregnancy had reached full term it would fall out of the waiting period, all will be good :)
This was with Medibank Private and HCF, believe all health funds are the same but please check with the one you want to go with.
Depending on where you are, public health will give you the lowest cost.
Even with private cover, expect to be out about $5k for the birth.
Yes, exactly.
We had three babies privately and were $4-$5k out of pocket for each with full health insurance.
Benefits of private health are choice of doctor (female if desired) plus own room in hospital.
Whether that is worth $5k is up to each individual, for us it was.
Yeah, it also depends on what your local public hospital is like as well. Some public places are very good. If you require surgery or something you may end up in a public hospital theater room any way, that's another consideration…
Unfortunately the $4k-$5k out of pocket is true ever since the Extended Medicare Safety Net (EMSN) for Obstetrician was capped about 3-4 years ago. Even the baby scans EMSN are also capped.
It is the obstetrician cost that drives most of the cost with some charging $4k - $5k for the service (and not all will guarantee will be there on your baby's arrival). Having said that, some are still charging much less than this and they are good obstetricians too.
However, if you pay your Obstetrician in January, then you will have the full calendar year covered by the Extended Medicare Safety Net for other things (eg: GP, post birth obs visit, etc).
We went private and, yes, the out of pocket hurts. However my first came 6 weeks early, my wife ended up in hospital 5 days, my baby 12 days.
The care from the hospital (the mater in Sydney) was exemplary, it was well staffed and nothing was too much trouble. The cost to us would've been over $25k but the whole hospital stay was covered.
I don't know what care we'd have gotten from public, but when complications arose I do know the $4-5k cost seemed like a smart investment.
THanks for everyone'e reply.
Does the $4-5K with the Obstetrician cover the check up costs or just the care from staying in the hospital until check out? Is this why my friend told me to sign up 12months before trying so I can get as much rebate as possible for check up costs?
Let say I start PHI (private health insurance) next month - March 2015
Try next year in March 2016 and it's an instant success (LOL) then the check ups will be covered with PHI premium plus up to $5K?
I would prefer private care as I have heard a few horror stories from getting public care.
I am trying to calculate if I can get some "reimbursement" from Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement or Parental Leave Pay
I hope I can making sense as I am a noob in this department.
Thanks everyone.
Hi cateyneow, hope this is still useful for you. Private Health covers you for in-hospital services and some health funds will cover more than others (depends on the cover you get, whether they have a contract with the hospital, and whether the doctors charge a gap or not). So hard to predict I know.
Medicare covers some of your check up visits but if you are seeing a private obstetrician (which is what you do if your going to deliver in a private hospital, you will inevitably be out of pocket for each visit as that is just how it goes. eg. dr charges $100 for a check up and you get $30/$40 back from Medicare.
The big cost you need to be aware of though and this is before you even get anywhere near a hospital, is what the private Obstetricians call a "Planning and management of pregnancy fee". This is charged at about 26 weeks and can be $2,000-$4,000, of which you get about $300 back from Medicare.
Can't help you with Newborn supplement but the Parental Leave Payment is like a minimum wage amount that you claim through Centrelink for 18 weeks after you have bub.
When you find out you are pregnant and ring the OB's offices for the first time find out the out of pockets for your OB. Upto $5000 is not uncommon.
You only need health instance 3-4 months before trying for the baby as it takes 9 months to cook a baby.