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​Tip Store: Health: Health Insurance

​Go the Pre-Pain Funeral Plan

​Don't buy a funeral plan. Instead visit the local funeral director and arrange for a pre-paid funeral. You can pay it off and once you have paid the full amount there are no more payments. They put your money in trust and the interest it earns covers any CPI increases. When my mum died we didn't have to worry about a thing. The best part was we received money back as the interest it earned was more than the funeral cost. Those insurance take your money and if you cancel you get nothing back. Contributed by Janine Benson, 21st March 2014

​Create Your Own Funeral Saving Plan

Nothing irritates me more than those constant ads for funeral plans. I have been told to be very wary of them that you could end up paying $50,000. for a $10,000 funeral. Why not just open a Progress Saver Account at your Bank where you could be earning good interest instead of paying out your money for someone else to earn the interest, to a fund that could be questionable?
​Contributed by Rae N., 20th March 2014

​Funeral Bond v Funeral Plan

I would recommend purchasing a Funeral Bond as opposed to a Plan. Your preferred funeral director will probably be able to arrange this and most offer payment plans. This means that you pay for the agreed funeral cost in advance with no ongoing payments. We did this for my Mum and it worked out really well as the Funeral Director already had our arrangements on file and handled everything for us. It also worked out heaps cheaper than ongoing payments.
​Contributed by Maggie, 20th March 2014

​Save Your Premiums

Funeral insurance is almost always sold as what's called a stepped premium, meaning the cost of the premium in the first year escalates very quickly to eventually cost many times more than an expensive funeral would. If you cancel your cover you don't get any money back. If you were to save the equivalent of the funeral insurance premiums each year until you had enough to pay for a pre-paid funeral, your loved ones would be much better off. The only catch is that you have to live long enough after you start saving (which would be a few years, depending on how big a funeral you want, the returns on your savings and the funeral insurance your savings are replicating.)
​ Contributed by Nick Haggarty, 20th March 2014

​Funeral Plans Save More Grief

​We are with APIA and have found them the cheapest. If he has the funds he can pay an up front funeral but its around $6,000. I just recently lost an older sister, she fell over and within 10 days was gone. She had the funeral plan and it was all sorted out and paid for within 48 hours through APIA Contributed by Robyne Neal, 20th March 2014

​Check Your Private Health Insurance

Approximate $ Savings: $70.95 a month Remember it is always a good idea to check if you are paying for the appropriate cover with your private health fund in case your circumstances change. I thought we were paying for the appropriate cover for our family, but after a trip to my local branch I realised I was paying a higher premium for services which our family did not require. We were paying $311.20 per month, but that cover dropped to $240.25 if we did not need cover for pregnancy/birth related services and psychiatric services. As these services are not required by my family, we are now saving an extra $70.95 per month which is huge! So I urge you Cheapskaters to please check you are receiving the appropriate level of cover!
​Contributed by Sharon Geyer, 9th July 2012

​Health Savings for the Asking

Approximate $ Savings: $3,240 per person

I recently needed some dentistry done and my quote from my dentist was over $5,000. I don't have $5,000 and I didn't want to put it on a credit card so I decided to shop around. I found out from one very honest dentist that because I have a chronic condition I qualified for $4,200 over two years from Medicare. I then found out I could have five Allied Heath Visits per year from physio, chiro, podiatrist, dietician etc. Then because I have been battling with my weight I qualified under a Mental Health Plan and can see a psychologist for ten visits. My doctor never advised me of this. It was just that I got a dentist when I was ringing around who asked all the right questions and sent me to my GP to apply for: 1. Allied Health Plan - which is the 5 visits 2. Dental Health Plan 3. GP Mental Health Plan. You must have some chronic condition. Something that's ongoing and for more than 3 months. You may not qualify from them all but I did. It's going to save me a minimum of $3,240 and my husband is already approved for the Allied Health Plan @ 5 visits approximately worth $300 plus the dental plan which is another $2100 so we save $2,400. We will be saving $5,640 and that's every year. Please everyone ask your GP about these plans. Its something Medicare do not advertise but if you qualify then you should be getting this. Bad back, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, Polymyalgia. Just talk to your doctor about the whole family. They can only say yes or no and if they say no then you had nothing to lose.
​Contributed by Julie-Anne Marchant, 14th February 2012

​Patient Assisted Travel Scheme

When you have to travel over 100 kilometres one way (in WA, other states have other requirements) to the nearest doctor, hospital etc, you can get about 60% of travel costs back through P.A.T.S. - Patient Assisted Travel Scheme. You request the form through your doctor. They have to put the request in, then you keep receipts for petrol, sometimes pats can organise accommodation too, but it has to be organised through your doctor before travel. Also did you know that if you have an extended stay in hospital and they charge you for it, you can go to Centrelink and get rental assistance, as when your bill is made up for the month they include rental assistance payments in the bill, but no one tells you? They presume that you would know to go and get rental assistance. Ask the questions like I did, I am sure there are loads of assistance packages out there that we don't know about.
​ Contributed by Cara, Busselton, 17th April 2009

​Easily Research Health Insurance

Search around for the best deal for health insurance by using the govt website: http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ Very very comprehensive listings and you can choose the types of cover to look into. Helped me find the perfect cover for me at a reasonable price.
Contributed by Clea, Currajong, 9th January 2009 
Website: www.privatehealth.com.au

​The Cheapskates Way to Have Your Baby Privately

Approximate $ Savings: $1741.88

​I only spent $1640 out of pocket to go private. 1. You don't have to have family/couple health cover. I had singles health insurance and so did my husband. When we wanted to start a family I increased my cover to include birth but left his the same. That way we saved a years worth of higher cover for him (we saved $544.20) 2. Find a doctor who allows all of their payment to be claimed by Medicare. Some doctors will have a 'gap' payment (e.g. $1000) that cannot be claimed by Medicare. Others allow you to claim the full amount (we saved $850) 3. Register for the Medicare safety net. When you have made more then $1000 in out of pocket medical expenses in one calendar year you then get 80% of future medical expenses back. Also try to make as many payments in the same calendar year (e.g. if your baby is due in February, ask if you can make your final payment in December to take advantage of the safety net) 4. Save all Medicare and doctors receipts for tax time. Medical expenses over $1500 in one financial year can be claimed as a tax deduction (part of the expense can anyway) (we claimed $347.68) You can get a financial statement from Medicare at the end of the financial year if you can't find all receipts.
Contributed by Laura, Sans Souci, 27th May 2009

​Extras Cover Pays for Dental Work

Approximate $ Savings: $144+

I needed to get my teeth cleaned and also needed a few fillings and x-rays. A scale & clean for myself, cost $120 at my dentist. So, for a family with two adults the cost is $480 per year for this service alone, if you each get one done twice a year. I kept putting it off because of the cost, then my mother in law mentioned Medibank Private extras cover. The cover cost $336 annually after the government rebate, paid in monthly instalments that are easily managed. The best part is that one of the benefits is two free scale and cleans for each adult. I have to wait a two month waiting period, and change dentists, but at a saving of $144+ per year I think it is worth the wait. I can also claim my X-rays ($48 at the other dentist, and I needed 2) and fillings - adding up to additional annual savings. I always thought private cover (even just extras) would be too costly, but am finding that it isn't nearly as much as I first thought.
​Contributed by Belinda, Shepparton, 4th March 2008

​Bulk Billing by Dorevitch

​Today I saw the tip about bulk billed pathology with St Vincents. I work for Dorevitch and they also bulk bill. What you need to do is ensure your doctor marks the request form bulk bill. If the tests are accepted by Medicare as a standard bill the charge is picked up by Medicare and you pay nothing. Contributed by Janet, Mitcham, 4th June 2007

​Travel and Accommodation Assistance

If you have to travel more than 200km from home to see the nearest specialist doctor, hospital or other treating physician you can claim IPTAAS (Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme) You need your referring doctor to fill out and give you the form to take to the specialist to fill out, then you complete your details and send it away. The government will reimburse some of your travel (plane, train, bus, taxi or car) and accommodation costs. (Keep all receipts) This has been of a huge help to our family when we have had to travel 700km to the Children's Hospital for testing and treatment of my son's allergies.
​Contributed by Kaye, Dianella, March 8th 2005

​Shop Around for Health Insurance

We saved $80/month ($960/year) by switching funds and got a very similar product. It's easy to compare products through an Internet broker like iselect (www.iselect.com.au)- there's no charge and you can fill out a questionnaire about what's important for your family and narrow down the options. There's no fee to use the service and it was easy and quick to switch. Sometimes there are also other incentives to complete your transaction online (i.e. Myer gift certificate).
​Contributed by Kathleen, Blaxland, September 7th 2006

​Register for Safety Net

My tip is to remind everyone to make sure they have registered for the new medicare safety net. As we have already reached the $300 threshold we now receive 85% of our out of pocket costs back,this means a doctors visit now costs about $5 instead of $22 a huge saving for us.
​Contributed by Sharon, Traralgon, September 20th, 2004