I'm looking to get orthodontics input (hopefully invisalign), and was wondering if it was worth it to take up top extras cover. A quick search tells me that I have to hold it for 12 months before claiming i.e. paying for 1 full year before claiming for the incoming year. Top extras cover are over $1000, and they typically only cover $1k anyway. So is it worth it to get a top extras cover or just pay out the orthodontics fee out of pocket? I don't need anything else in the extras cover (no need for optical, physio etc. thus don't see a need to pay extra just to have those too). I'm just making sure I'm not missing something here.
Is It Worth It to Take up Extras Health Insurance?
Jaystea on 13/08/2019 - 12:27
Comments
you don't have to pay the medicare levy
No. Only need hospital cover.
No
Not unless you need the services all the time because you still pay a gap fee even at their own dental offiCe eg HCF
It only entitles you to 2x teeth cleans and check ups per year free ,all the rest there is a gap fee one of mine was $197 and that was at a HCF dental centre !Other services chiropractor was $90 , I paid $37 ,allowed 2 visits a year
Podiatrist $80 got $37 backUnless you use a lot of services I wouldn’t bother
@ starofdavid
Hey mate
Just read your comment.
Don't mean to be rude, and I don't know what type of policy of private health you hold, but your policy sounds like rubbish.
Have a look at other policies, I.e. CBHS etc, and spreadsheet type compare what you get/ can get/ dollar values.
I guarantee you will find better.
Cheers
Have had good value out of extras cover.
Frank are pretty good when it comes to major dental, especially root canals and have high limits on their top extras policy.
We use it for massages, physio, psychology, podiatry e.t.c.
As others say, if you can use the services it's good, if you're not going to then don't bother.
We only have basic hospital cover and have had absolutely ZERO value out of that. Probably a good thing really but even if we needed it it's fairly useless.
My wife and I had the same questions about a year ago. In the end she didn't want to wait for the cooling-off period and we calculated that the benefit wouldn't be that great anyway. But we did end up getting a basic extras cover because you will need regular dental stuff done like checkups, cleaning, fillings, etc and probably more than you would otherwise need. So I would recommend a basic extras cover just for dental stuff. If you talk to the orthdontics people they know all about this and will try to save you money by getting your dentist to do as much as possible (if they are good!).
Remember this is insurance, you're not supposed to claim more than you pay in except in unexpected circumstances.
The whole system would fall over if everyone got back what they paid in.We have no Hospital cover (due to the fact it's almost useless unless you're on a high end package which we couldn't afford anyway).
Our Extras borderline pays for itself (via standard Dental, Optical and Physio visits through the year) after we "deduct" the value of Ambulance cover (make sure your extras covers this), which (as a family with kids that are reasonably likely to do stupid things and get themselves hurt) is an insurance cover we want to have anyway. One trip in an Ambulance per year will pay for itself and more, they're flippin' expensive!Note that there's limits on what they'll pay out for types of services/products.
Do the maths.. and put a value on the "unexpected" events scenarios to see if it's right for you.Also note that practitioners frequently do deals for certain funds, so one fund might get more value with your chosen practitioner than another.
Ah thanks everyone for your input. I did suspect that it was not worth it, but just wanted to make sure as it seems that every man and his dog are on extras cover!
Main thinks to consider in extras cover:
*Australia wide Ambulance cover
*Dental
*OpticalHaving a root canal soon at HCF dental centre my gap will be around $800…ouch !!!!
Guess it depends, if it comes to a similar price I'd imagine having the insurance means you're getting it covered plus a few other things covered, whether or not it will end up being useful not sure who really knows. From my understanding you'll still pay part out of pocket with insurance as well?
I also wonder about age/income as from my understanding if you have it, you don't have to pay the medicare levy you can check here from a CHOICE article for a tax view point: https://doineedhealthinsurance.com.au/