Hey guys,
I have my private hospital and extra cover at 2 different providers, wanting to consolidate them. Is that a better idea?
and do you guys always shop for the best deal or promotion when the yearly renewal is due? is there any drawback from changing providers too often?
thank you
I change every 3-5 months for both hospital and extras together since the joining offers are usually only available when you bundle them together. MLS payable exceeds hospital premium and I utilise dental and optical to breakeven with the extras premium.
I always review my cover to see that I am getting the best value. Sometimes it is not viable to change every year with some plans because the longer you stay with them, the better the cover.
Right now, if you are on JobSeeker and have private health, call your provider as most of them are offering free cover. For example if you have been with your fund for 6 years, you can receive 6 months free cover and still claim.
Change as soon as you get your promo eg stay with x amount of days to get free period/gift card. then change to next eligible health insurance with a promo. So usually every 3 to 6 months
Funnily enough while I always shop around house and car insurance I never seem to do that with health insurance.
Its probably about time I did.
Does house and car insurance normally have joining offers?
I shop around every year to make sure I'm getting the best value Medicare provider.
I have a look every now and again, but we get a corporate discount at Bupa through my partner's work and have never found any better offers. We cut the extra insurance recently though, looking at cost it was hard to make our money back, when we took it out a few years ago it was easy to, so worth reviewing and seeing if extras is worth bothering with.
do you guys always shop for the best deal or promotion when the yearly renewal is due?
I shop around for the best deal all the time, and not just when the yearly renewal is due.
wanting to consolidate them. Is that a better idea?
Depends if you get a better deal from a promotion for getting both hospital and extras cover.
Also, depends on how much you're getting back from the extras cover versus how much you're paying, and how this would change with the new health fund.
For example, my old health fund had a cheaper extras premium, but the reimbursement was capped based on their 'standard' fee schedule. My new fund charges a higher premium, but mostly reimburses at 75% of my cost, so, overall, I think I get a better deal from my new fund. (I have very heavy spending on extras benefits & usually get back more in benefits than I pay in premiums.)
Dead money these days.
Unless you get the tax break it’s literally not with it.
depends on the difference in premiums. I would review it every year or so
I get the best deal by not having it.