Appears health insurers are still going to keep charging us even though we can’t access all the providers, Medibank are freezing the premiums increase by 6 months but should they do more?
Should health insurers stop charging premiums during the lockout?
Mixinitup on 30/03/2020 - 19:49
Last edited 30/03/2020 - 19:53
Last edited 30/03/2020 - 19:53
Comments
Would you expect them to still pay out if you end up in ICU with this virus?
You could just go to public ICU which is probably most likely
Prediction: This health event will expose many, many people who thought they were paying to get treated first.
Second prediction: They will all also claim they already knew this, and post-justify private health care is good value for some other spurious reason.*I pay low level private health care as the tax burden otherwise is higher. Nobody has explained to me why I have to support private businesses in preference to supporting our health system. I can pay c. $1000 a year for useless private insurance, but my tax burden climbs without limit.
If we must pay extra tax to make a better health system (which seems reasonable) why give an out that supports the private sector for cheaper in preference to the public system that benefits everybody?Do private hospitals have an ICU?
Some have high dependency units(high staffing ratio, lots of monitoring/emergency response equipment,) I've spent time in one after ENT surgery. I think the high dependency unit is a step below ICU.
Absolutely they do: fully equipped, indistinguishable from public ICU and often staffed by the same doctors.
Thanks. Fortunately never been in a private hospital.
Better of in public anyway with covid-19. Can't see PHI cover much of the out of pocket expenses
The Covid 19 virus is being looked after in the public hospitals and you are not meant to go to the private hospital if you have Covid 19. However, if you have cover and you need to go to the dentist for example, why should the health fund cover you if you aren't paying?
If you have private cover, you can still make claims if you use a service. But as mskeggs said, lots of people think they will get faster service under private health insurance which is not the case.
No?
Why would they? Along those lines, should we expect supermarkets to give away free groceries? Free fuel from petrol stations? I'm not sure why you'd think we should be entitled to something for free from private businesses?
Because you can't use their services at the moment. Elective surgeries are all on hold, dentists are closed, etc. We are paying for a service that we cannot access.
That’s why you freeze your health insurance until there is less shtf.
How to freeze?
@SnoozeAndLose: His talking bullsht, haven’t ever heard of “freezing” health insurance.
He probably means cancel, but that means you will be liable for Medicare levy surcharge.
@cloudy: https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges…
You can suspend your cover for 3 years without LHC coming into effect.
@SnoozeAndLose: Call your insurer, mine sent an email that said to call them to discuss various financial options including suspending for up to 12 months.
And you can't claim on anything during suspending
so you still want to claim something, while suspending the premium ?
you know what you're asking ?
@dcep: There is two part of my question.
The main thing is MLS. I am asking the second part is Mapax2 suggest on freeze which I want to bring up the question if never you would need to claim.
Not a thing. Financial hardship suspension might be what you're talking about but you can do that for a max of 12 months for the life of the policy and need to prove you're in trouble. Don't even think all funds do this either. Just the big ones maybe
Elective surgeries are all on hold
Yes most are
dentists are closed
Not all, just general cleaning, break a tooth and you get it fixed still.
We are paying for a service that we cannot access.
Your insurance is more than just those two.
Not free groceries but charging full price for everything in this climate is just wrong given many have to live off much less now. The average trolley spend has increased by 30% in the past week alone.
Gone in pretty hard their without maybe knowing what's happening with HI. Seeing as many elective surgeries can't take place now the hospital part of your cover could have quite limited use (and costs the most) so I'm also wondering if HI would make adjustments to that. Not expecting it necessarily, but I think it's fair for people to wonder how customer may be compensated for the limited use they have of their policies in the short - medium term.
Should health insurers stop charging premiums during the lockout?
Has your health coverage stopped? No it hasn't. You're still covered if you hurt yourself at home. Break a tooth and need a dentist, yes still covered.
So why should you stop paying them?
I think it’s fair to say most coverage is limited now. You’ve paid for a list of, say, 100 things, now only 60, 70 ( pick a reasonable figure) is only available.
This is a very strong argument.
Name a hospital service my cover is covering right now.Name a hospital service my cover is covering right now.
Sure the hospitals have flushed out the stuff that is elective and can be put off to a later date. Those people are not going to DIE from waiting.
But if you break a leg right now, that is covered, break an arm that is also covered.
Have a heart attack or a stroke, that is covered and so is your trip in the Ambulance to the hospital.
Do I need to go with with the list?
Sure elective surgerys are 'postponed' like hips and dental cleans/checkups etc. But break a tooth, your dentist is still working.
Have a major health issue that can't wait, that is also still covered. ie appendix about to go pop, guess what? Its covered.
So people making wild claims that their health insurance is 'useless' during this period is wrong. Its no more useless than any other day of the week. Just at the moment you can't do some elective surgerys. Last time I looked, people don't get new hips installed every 2nd month, so they'll be ok. You also don't get 'elective surgerys' every month or so too.
Not a great answer. You're talking about Extras cover, which is the cheaper portion of HI. The hospital portion is the but that costs the most and with elective surgeries being scaled back/cancelled to a degree you're paying for a cover you can't fully use. It's not the HIs fault but the impact would be on you if you're not allowed to use it. So it's a reasonable question. I don't think they'll do it voluntarily but I wouldn't be surprised if people start to ask the question
Not a great answer.
Yours? Yes I agree.
being scaled back/cancelled to a degree
scaled back isn't stopped completely.
The hospital portion
So they're not letting use the hospital? sure sure.
His answer is correct.
The only thing he mentioned that was extras related was the dentist.
Have a heart attack and need admitting?
Break your leg in 3 places and it needs pinning?
Appendicitis (he already mentioned that) can kill you if you don't have it treated.
Be involved in a serious car accident?There are still a multitude of medical things, that are not elective, that your PHI covers you for that is still available. Sure, you could go public too, but at this rate, the public hospital's will be overwhelmed with covid-19 patients. No thanks.
Hi,
Here is an Update:
Health funds Postpone 1 April Premium Increase
https://www.privatehealthcareaustralia.org.au/health-funds-p…Sorry DingoBilly you are incorrect.
Sydney has three private hospitals with ICU units with a forth on the way.
Sydney has three private hospitals with ICU units with a forth on the way.
Really? I find it hard to believe there are only 3 private hospitals with ICU wards in Sydney… I’m not from Sydney, but Brisbane has at least 5 private hospitals with ICU wards: Wesley, Mater, Greenslopes, Brisbane Private, St Andrews War Memorial. There’s probably still more than than this, that’s just the ones I can name off he top of my head.
Even Gold Coast has at least 2 private ICU’s: Gold Coast Private and Pindara Private.
I’m betting Sydney would have more major private hospitals than Brisbane…
It really depends on how you define an ICU, as there are different levels/abilities to take on sick patients (just like neonatal nurseries).
There are well over 10+ private ICUs in Sydney that can take ventilated patients in Sydney.
It's not really about if they've got them though, it's about knowing what your out of pocket costs are going to be in advance so you can make an informed decision. If you choose to go to a private hospital in an emergency and they admit you as a patient, good luck getting a specialist to charge you the medicare scheduled fee. They'll see you've committed and have no choice but to pay whatever they want to charge you. Your alternative is to haggle with a specialist/go to a public hospital afterall which if it's a real emergency you're unlikely to do. The private hospital and their "ICU" had you by the b**ls.
If you cancel or suspend your health cover, I wonder if your wait periods for various treatments restarts upon recommencing cover. I've got a feeling it may.
HIF introduces a special financial hardship suspension arrangement for Members
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, HIF has introduced a new policy suspension option for Members who are struggling financially during this challenging time.
Members who can’t afford to pay their premiums due to the financial consequences resulting from COVID-19 can suspend their policy for between two and 12 months, and they won’t have to re-serve waiting periods once the membership is reinstated. Benefits for services or treatments received during the suspension period, however, will not be payable.
Should their financial circumstances improve at a later point in time, Members can give a minimum of 2 months’ notice to reinstate their policy during the agreed suspension period.
This special COVID-19 membership suspension arrangement won’t be impacted by any previous suspension period that may have been taken.
Members experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 related unemployment or under-employment are urged to contact us on 1300 13 40 60 discuss how we can assist them.https://www.hif.com.au/news/covid-19-updates/hif-introduces-…
Good to know. Excellent to see link posted as well!
What country do you live in ? USSR? North Korea? There is no socialism here.
I don't think people understand the concept of insurance.
Insurance is for people that can't afford major financial events. A group pay in a small amount at regular intervals under the assumption that the combined fees will cover the minority that has to claim.
I self insured my medical for 15 years (yes, I kept the saved premiums in a separate account). It went well until I needed an ACL reconstruction. That wiped out that account. I started paying to HCF after that.
Considering HBF have covered all my dental which is double my already paid premiums Im happy to still pay my premiums
Ring them up… speak to THEM
Shifty of BUPA - fill out an online hardship form & they’ll get back to you
Should be able to suspend via the formShould be able to suspend via the form
You're welcome to cancel at any time, why not do that instead? :)
Because then you lose the benefit of the years you had membership
So you want it both ways then? Don't want to be paying for your health insurance, but don't want to lose the 'benefits' of having 'continuous' years of membership?
Why do you feel that you should be able to suspend without consequences if you can't afford to pay? As that is the 'perk' of paying all the time even when you don't need/use it.
Otherwise people will be suspending it all the time and only turning it on to 'claim'
https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/private-health-insur…
As per the gov website, you have to ASK, its not automatically granted, hence why you have to fill out a form and wait to see if they accept your 'reason'.
@JimmyF: Because the government changed the rule book by not allowing, for example, elective surgery
No point having to pay for something you can’t use@JimmyF: That’s irrelevant. But since you asked, I should have the option to if that’s what I’m paying for
That’s irrelevant
Well its not, elective surgery is just a PART of your health cover.
So you have no plans for elective surgery, and no other reason to suspend it other than being mega entitled.
@JimmyF: I used elective surgery as one example
Let me dumb it down for you - imagine your car insurer advises that you must keep paying the full premium, but they are only going to cover damage to tail lights, nothing else on the car. Not fair at all.
And, as you will see above, HIF is allowing a suspension of private health coverage@JimmyF: After being pressed on it, Bupa have agreed to suspension of membership
Looks like Bupa think I’m being entitled too…Looks like Bupa think I’m being entitled too…
We all do.
imagine your car insurer advises that you must keep paying the full premium, but they are only going to cover damage to tail lights, nothing else
So you want to go without any insurance then? Cool. So if someone runs into your car and breaks your tail light, it won't be covered.
The same for health insurance, if you get a health issue while in suspension of membership, you might have issues claiming that in the future when you come out of suspension.
They are aware of people who play the 'game' and they'll play it back to when the time comes.
Going to be pretty hard to claim 'hardship' for your suspension when you kept your job and had money in the back during that period.
We all do.
You must have missed the bit where Bupa have agreed to the suspension
Also you don’t seem to understand the basics of private health insurance & the percentage that the government subsidises
Dear, oh, dearYou must have missed the bit where Bupa have agreed to the suspension
No I seen it, I was just using your poor grammar in the way you wrote it.
So best of leg and break a leg!
Elective surgery might be on hold for the foreseeable future but non-elective/urgent/emergency surgeries are not.
Sure, there are possibilities in terms of going public if that's the case, except at this point, I would be avoiding any public hospital like the plague (corona? Ha.) right now. There is a high possibility that public hospitals will be overwhelmed with covid-19 patients and won't have the resources to treat other emergencies.
Private hospitals aren't closed. They're still performing procedures (cancer patients, heart related, accidents etc etc).
If you somehow manage to fall onto one of the categories of requiring urgent treatment, right now.. You're probably going to want your PHI policy active.
Yes.