How to Pick a Health Plan
While Australian residents are covered by Medicare, it does not cover some items such as most dental care, eye exams, dentures and more.
This is where having private health insurance comes into play.
With private health insurance you can have a plan that covers “hospital”, “extras”, and “hospital and extras”.
Hospital only cover helps cover the cost of in-hospital treatment by your doctor and hospital costs such as accommodation and theatre fees. Most medical services listed under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) can be covered on some private health insurance. Elective cosmetic surgery or laser eye surgery for example are only covered by private hospital to a limited extent or not at all.
Hospital Cover will be fall into 4 categories in April 2019. You will have the following to choose from: Gold, Silver, Bronze or Basic. These categories will allow you to understand exactly what is covered and what could be the best price for your needs.
Extras only cover (general treatment) helps cover ancillary services like physiotherapy, dental and optometry.
Hospital and extras cover (combined cover) is an option that covers, you guessed it, both hospital and extras. Meaning you care covered for in hospital treatment AND ancillary services you may need.
If you haven’t reviewed your health insurance policy in some time, it’s time to review it and see if you are paying for things you no longer need. For example, are you still paying for pregnancy and birth cover? If you are past your child bearing years, stop paying for cover you do not need.
Health insurance doesn’t have to be complicated and neither should be choosing the package that is right for you. You just have to decide what you want. Do you want hospital cover only, extras cover only, or the best of both worlds hospital and extras?
