Garie Beach

How much excess did you pay going private??? (Australia)?

My hubby & I have been TTC for the past 11 months & before we started we discussed getting private health cover for the birth etc. & decided against it as 2 of my friends had given birth at our local hospital & had good experiences however I recently had a miscarriage & had to have the D&C at our local hospital (it's the best out of the 2 around our area) & had the most horrible horrible experience (very very long story) anyway now we're trying to decide if we should get private cover or not... I've heard that it ends up being really really expensive like $5,000 - $10,000 & that's allot of money when we're also going to be paying $250 p/month for the health insurance itself!!! So I just want to get some opinions & an idea on how much it costs everyone & what your experiences have been (I'm on the Northern Beaches in Sydney so my local hospitals are Mona Vale & Manly).... any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Public Comments

1. i'm with Medibank Private - pay 116 per fortnight and only pay up to an excess of 800 dollars i think and no more per year and my child is covered as well and i get to choose my doctor and get a private suite etc. hope this helps
2. The first thing you need to know is that generally private health insurance companies have a 12 month waiting period for obstetrics. So, you need to have the insurance for 12 months before you would be covered to use the insurance for the birth. Secondly, when you take out health insurance, you elect what excess to pay. If you take an excess, your monthly premium will be cheaper than if you take a policy with no excess. So for example, you might elect to pay the first $250 of your hospital stay (this goes towards the hospital bill - not the Dr's charges, they are seperate). Some policies allow you to have a private room in a private hospital. So, provided you go to a hospital that your insurance company have an agreement with, you shouldn't have to pay any out of pocket for the hospital bill (room and delivery theatre) besides your excess. As for the Dr's fees, with private health insurance for inpatient services you are covered to 100% of the MEDICARE SCHEDULED FEE. For example, if the medicare schedule fee for a delivery is $2059.00, this is what Medicare/Private health will pay. If your Doctor chooses to charge $5000, you pay the difference. Same goes for anaesthetic, any pathology or other services in hospital. Generally, your OB/GYN will make you aware of any out of pocket costs you will occur beforehand. Hope this helps =)
3. i got just plain hospital cover for $88 A MOUNTH with no excess it may not cover al of the costs of privet but you will find the the hospital you chose will offer you a package deal for the recommended length of stay mine is about 600 dollar above what cove i have and i am in brisbane also before you go privet go and see your public hospital and talk to someone there about your problems why should you pay because they are ASSSholes
4. Sorry i cant really help but i wanted to write to you for support ... Your amounts seem just about right... i would say keep shopping around... and find someone that is private because if you had a bad experience already you might have another one ...and the birth of your baby is the most important things in the world... if you have to travel to have your baby i would do so ... i live the new york and if you can travel here then i would say do so ..but if there is places closer to you to travel to with better medical help for your child then do it... it will all be worth it in the end ... good luck