JasonM Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 We are looking to purchase the basic cover and get some extras to start with until i have secured a job and know what my income will be. I have tried to search the forum but could anyone please recommend a company / policy which has a good basic cover with good extras please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedolly Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 We have Medibank, dont think they are the cheapest but good cover. They have a lot of what they call Members Choice dentists etc where you get a bigger amount covered. We have unlimited General Dental, Major dental is about $850 per year, Optical $280, I get a new pair of glasses and prescription sunglasses every year from Specsavers and dont pay anything as this is enough to cover. Also it all gets paid right away, the dentist etc just swipes your card and you pay the difference so no need to pay out huge amount and claim back. There is loads of stuff that we wont even use, I really need to go and get our policy looked at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 We're with medibank too - there are also dentists that you can get a free check up/clean with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druid Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 We with HBF we started with just the basic 'essentials' but then upgraded to 'extra essentials' to get better cover on dental and physio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic964 Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Have a discussion with someone like iSelect. We found them really helpful. You don't have to have private medical insurance, Medicare does cover you for general medical, though not dental, optical etc. We didn't have medical insurance for the first 12 months and Medicare did us fine. We now have basic cover with HBF, who are not for profit health cover, so we found them cost effective. Just an option. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey2645 Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 I'm really confused by the health insurance options. Looking at medibank's website, they'll pay a maximum of $400 pa (at 55%) towards major dental, such as root canal and crowns. I've read on one of these forums that root canal can cost about $2000 in Australia. On this basis I'm not seeing any value in paying $40+ per week as the amount they cover is negligible. If and when the cover is required we might as well simply pay the full amount as we'd have saved more than the $400 anyway (assuming my teeth don't cave in straight away). Then there's orthodontics - they cover a lifetime limit of $1200. What if the kids need braces? I'm guessing the cost is way more than that, probably per visit? Never mind in a lifetime. Or am I being a doofus - does percentage back for children 100% mean children aren't restricted to limits?? At the moment full health insurance isn't seeming like very good value. Is there an insurer who offers cover for only ambulance and only for dental so these things can be covered separately for better total limits? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedolly Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 I'm really confused by the health insurance options. Looking at medibank's website, they'll pay a maximum of $400 pa (at 55%) towards major dental, such as root canal and crowns. I've read on one of these forums that root canal can cost about $2000 in Australia. On this basis I'm not seeing any value in paying $40+ per week as the amount they cover is negligible. If and when the cover is required we might as well simply pay the full amount as we'd have saved more than the $400 anyway (assuming my teeth don't cave in straight away). Then there's orthodontics - they cover a lifetime limit of $1200. What if the kids need braces? I'm guessing the cost is way more than that, probably per visit? Never mind in a lifetime. Or am I being a doofus - does percentage back for children 100% mean children aren't restricted to limits?? At the moment full health insurance isn't seeming like very good value. Is there an insurer who offers cover for only ambulance and only for dental so these things can be covered separately for better total limits? Thanks I dont know where you see that but I have Medibank and get $850 a year for major dental rising $50 per year for so many years(cant remember) and they pay 80% of treatment, certain treatment is fully covered. They have no limit on general dental Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey2645 Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) I guess your insurance is a lot more than $40 per week? That's the settled cover for single parents. General dental is covered to $500 pa. I'll have to look at the higher levels they offer for family cover - see if it seems more valuable. Edit: ahah found it - the extras only cover. Yes that seems much better value. does extra only cover mean you avoid the loading issue of not being covered by private health over a certain age? Edited August 30, 2015 by Monkey2645 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedolly Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) I guess your insurance is a lot more than $40 per week? That's the settled cover for single parents. General dental is covered to $500 pa. I'll have to look at the higher levels they offer for family cover - see if it seems more valuable. Edit: ahah found it - the extras only cover. Yes that seems much better value. does extra only cover mean you avoid the loading issue of not being covered by private health over a certain age? Nope you have to take hospital cover to avoid that. If you are definately planning on having private cover, its is well worth taking it out in your first year here, we didnt thinking we would never be at that income limit and now have a 30% loading on premiums for 10 years! We pay $295 for 2 adults and one child for settled families cover. Edited August 31, 2015 by Weedolly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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