WEBVTT - Do you need private health insurance? 0:00:06.340 --> 0:00:08.320 Hello and welcome to It All ends up the podcast 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.119 where we chat about money, how to get it, how 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:12.040 to spend it and how to invest it. I'm money 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:12.820 editor Dom Powell . 0:00:13.060 --> 0:00:16.630 And I'm senior economics writer Jess Irvine. And this week, 0:00:16.630 --> 0:00:21.009 we're diving into the somewhat vexed topic of private health insurance. 0:00:21.340 --> 0:00:23.830 What is it? Who needs it and what type of 0:00:23.829 --> 0:00:25.540 coverage do you need? 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:27.210 Yeah, we're also going to talk about our sort of 0:00:27.250 --> 0:00:29.890 top tips to save on on health insurance. If you 0:00:29.890 --> 0:00:32.110 do decide that it's something for you and if you 0:00:32.110 --> 0:00:33.490 have room for it in your budget. 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.210 So we did discuss in a previous episode that you 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:40.510 currently do not have private health insurance. 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.449 Why I don't. And I feel like this is sort 0:00:43.450 --> 0:00:45.550 of like a you know, once you get to a 0:00:45.550 --> 0:00:47.650 certain stage of adulthood, it's like when you should why 0:00:47.650 --> 0:00:49.720 don't you have private health insurance? How strange of you 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:50.409 sort of thing that. 0:00:50.470 --> 0:00:53.409 It's sort of a rite of passage. Congratulations, You're an adult. 0:00:53.409 --> 0:00:54.590 You have to worry about this stuff. 0:00:54.610 --> 0:00:57.190 You have to pay like however many thousands of dollars 0:00:57.190 --> 0:00:59.470 a year of not that much, but, you know, to 0:00:59.620 --> 0:01:02.710 have private health insurance. No, I don't have private health insurance. 0:01:02.710 --> 0:01:06.130 I have just been relying on Medicare for my whole life. 0:01:06.459 --> 0:01:09.100 And as of yet, I haven't found a spot where 0:01:09.100 --> 0:01:09.940 I've actually needed it. 0:01:10.270 --> 0:01:13.660 We did discuss, as you do, progress throughout adulthood and 0:01:13.660 --> 0:01:16.750 you accumulate some pay rises, you will push yourself into 0:01:16.750 --> 0:01:20.740 income brackets where you get slugged with an extra surcharge 0:01:20.740 --> 0:01:23.470 if you don't have the cover. So I've got cover. 0:01:23.620 --> 0:01:26.470 I've gone through a period of sort of phasing right 0:01:26.470 --> 0:01:28.030 back what I used to have. I used to sort 0:01:28.030 --> 0:01:31.089 of think, oh, private health insurance, good, responsible people do that. 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:33.160 I better have the top level of cover because you 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.260 know what? I want to get sick. And so, like 0:01:35.260 --> 0:01:38.050 I had top level cover, but I've been gradually just 0:01:38.050 --> 0:01:40.240 scaling it back to now. I just have a really 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:43.990 basic policy. It only costs me about 80 bucks a month. 0:01:43.990 --> 0:01:47.320 It's it's just shy of $1,000 a year that I pay. 0:01:47.530 --> 0:01:50.440 And it's basically a straight out tax dodge for me. 0:01:50.470 --> 0:01:52.059 I just do it so I don't have to pay 0:01:52.060 --> 0:01:55.030 the extra levy. As for what benefit I would actually 0:01:55.030 --> 0:01:57.850 get from my policy, I don't know. And to be honest, 0:01:57.880 --> 0:01:59.470 I'm a little bit annoyed that I have to get 0:01:59.470 --> 0:02:03.430 it because otherwise I will get tax slugged. But yeah, 0:02:03.430 --> 0:02:06.040 it is something for people to have to think about 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:07.330 as you become an adult. 0:02:07.570 --> 0:02:09.280 Yeah, and I like to say in my defense, I'm 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.470 not completely negligent about my health. I have things like 0:02:11.470 --> 0:02:13.390 I have ambulance cover, like, you know, so I don't 0:02:13.389 --> 0:02:15.340 have to pay the exorbitant fee. I do have a 0:02:15.340 --> 0:02:16.239 need to get an ambulance. 0:02:16.270 --> 0:02:18.970 So that's interesting because I do not have ambulance cover. 0:02:18.970 --> 0:02:20.860 I'm just not included in your you know, it's. 0:02:20.860 --> 0:02:23.260 Not it's not included in the time that I have. 0:02:23.260 --> 0:02:26.080 So I'm just taking it that big risk that if 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:27.880 I do have to use an ambulance, I'm just going 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.910 to have to pay the out-of-pocket cost, which can vary 0:02:30.910 --> 0:02:31.720 across states. 0:02:31.780 --> 0:02:34.239 So who's to say whose approach is better. 0:02:34.710 --> 0:02:35.030 Whose to say. 0:02:35.050 --> 0:02:36.100 Could possibly. 0:02:36.100 --> 0:02:36.550 We are. 0:02:36.970 --> 0:02:37.810 But yeah, that's true. 0:02:37.810 --> 0:02:40.600 That's the whole point of this podcast. You're going to 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:44.200 tell people what to do. But yeah, so just starting 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.989 with some basics of like what is private health insurance? 0:02:46.990 --> 0:02:50.590 Obviously it's insurance and you pay premiums to the insurer 0:02:50.860 --> 0:02:54.400 if you want to access private health care. So that 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.090 can be either in separate private hospitals or it can 0:02:58.090 --> 0:03:01.210 be the care delivered by like a private specialist which 0:03:01.210 --> 0:03:04.150 can actually be delivered in public hospitals. And you can, 0:03:04.300 --> 0:03:07.059 you know, get private wings or private rooms in public 0:03:07.060 --> 0:03:10.090 hospitals because you don't want as many people in there. 0:03:10.090 --> 0:03:12.760 So it's basically, if you choose that, you're not going 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:17.320 to access the sort of basic Medicare, universal health care 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.680 that's available for everyone. So why do you think, as 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.410 you're thinking through potentially taking out a policy, what might 0:03:23.410 --> 0:03:25.209 be the benefits of private health insurance? 0:03:25.510 --> 0:03:27.010 Well, yeah. I mean, this is the thing and I've 0:03:27.010 --> 0:03:29.410 thought about this for a long time. I've just been like, well, 0:03:29.410 --> 0:03:31.270 I get all the health care I need on the 0:03:31.270 --> 0:03:32.920 public system. Why would I pay for more? But I 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.790 think there's definitely been situations where I have had something 0:03:36.790 --> 0:03:39.180 that's gone wrong and I've gone to the hospital and said, 0:03:39.340 --> 0:03:41.320 you know, to the doctor and said, I need this 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:42.490 to happen. And I go, Right, well, if you had 0:03:42.490 --> 0:03:45.670 private health insurance, we'd get this done next week. But 0:03:45.670 --> 0:03:47.140 because you don't, you're going to have to go on 0:03:47.140 --> 0:03:49.090 the waiting list. And that could be anywhere up to 0:03:49.090 --> 0:03:52.420 six months to a year. So, you know, that is 0:03:52.420 --> 0:03:55.360 obviously one of the major benefits of having private health insurance. 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:57.010 You sort of skip all the waiting lists. You don't 0:03:57.010 --> 0:03:59.290 have to, you know, wait around for the public system 0:03:59.310 --> 0:04:02.320 to have time to fit you in. You just get 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.410 to go into the private system, which is much quicker 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:06.220 because you paying for it. 0:04:06.790 --> 0:04:08.500 I guess we should just note for everyone to know, 0:04:08.500 --> 0:04:10.500 it's not like America where, you know, you go to 0:04:10.510 --> 0:04:13.180 hospital for emergency, say, you know, if you break your leg, 0:04:13.180 --> 0:04:15.730 please do go to the E.R. departments and you will 0:04:15.730 --> 0:04:18.489 be you will be treated. And that's an advantage of 0:04:18.490 --> 0:04:20.979 being in Australia. I mean, another reason why people might 0:04:20.980 --> 0:04:23.469 not just use that system, though, is the government has 0:04:23.470 --> 0:04:27.159 been for several decades now forcing us with carrots and 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.669 sticks in policy to take out private health insurance to 0:04:30.670 --> 0:04:33.610 take pressure off the public system. So it was the 0:04:33.610 --> 0:04:37.720 late 1990s to take you back there. John Howard was 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:38.349 in power. 0:04:38.470 --> 0:04:41.710 I was I was about three years old. Okay. 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.289 I was I was born in 81. So, you know, 0:04:44.500 --> 0:04:47.530 I do remember this happening that, you know, there was 0:04:47.529 --> 0:04:51.190 public policy changes to push people into taking out private 0:04:51.190 --> 0:04:54.460 health insurance. There's the private health insurance rebate, which is 0:04:54.460 --> 0:04:56.650 sort of the carrot that there's a bit of a 0:04:56.650 --> 0:05:00.370 discount off your premiums, which depends on your income level, 0:05:00.370 --> 0:05:04.310 but also this stick of the Medicare levy. Surcharge. So 0:05:04.310 --> 0:05:07.760 slugging people with extra tax and particularly higher income earners, 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.159 if they didn't take out the policies, you know, sort 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.610 of had varying degrees of success. It's a it's about 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.909 just less than half of Australians have private cover. So 0:05:17.180 --> 0:05:20.060 more than half Australians still relying on the public system 0:05:20.270 --> 0:05:23.210 in its entirety. And we've we've had a lot of 0:05:23.210 --> 0:05:27.979 problems with private health insurance. Premiums are spiralling higher, you know, 0:05:27.980 --> 0:05:30.260 because if you don't get that mass of people in 0:05:30.260 --> 0:05:33.650 the system, if younger people are opting out, that increases 0:05:33.650 --> 0:05:36.770 the premiums for whoever remains in. So we've had this 0:05:36.770 --> 0:05:40.339 what's been called a death spiral in premiums. So, you know, 0:05:40.339 --> 0:05:42.740 it's a tricky thing to navigate and it can be 0:05:42.740 --> 0:05:45.830 quite expensive these days to take out the private health 0:05:45.830 --> 0:05:46.730 insurance coverage. 0:05:47.300 --> 0:05:49.610 And one thing this is this is me just sort 0:05:49.610 --> 0:05:53.170 of expressing my disbelief is that private health doesn't cover 0:05:53.210 --> 0:05:55.880 like GP visits. Right. If you're going to a non 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:59.299 bulk bulk billed clinic and you pay your man and 0:05:59.300 --> 0:06:02.120 you get your Medicare rebate back, I was always under the impression 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.060 that that private health covered the the the cost that 0:06:05.060 --> 0:06:07.969 the Medicare rebate didn't cover. But no, it there's nothing 0:06:07.970 --> 0:06:11.300 that's just that's just nothing. Right. Like I had no idea. 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.120 Yeah. And I've sort of had several situations in my 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:15.950 life where I've got out the private health insurance card 0:06:15.950 --> 0:06:18.170 and go like, I swipe this baby. This is going 0:06:18.170 --> 0:06:19.760 to be cheaper. And it's just like, oh, no, that's 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:21.980 not part of your coverage. And it depends what you 0:06:21.980 --> 0:06:26.659 have coverage for, and that can depend on your policy. So, Dom, 0:06:26.810 --> 0:06:29.000 I want to talk you through whether you need private 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.330 health insurance. But I guess more broadly, who needs private 0:06:32.330 --> 0:06:33.050 health insurance? 0:06:33.260 --> 0:06:35.180 Well, I think it's I think from a tax point 0:06:35.180 --> 0:06:38.030 of view, especially anybody on sort of higher incomes is 0:06:38.029 --> 0:06:40.940 probably the number one like from purely saving money. So 0:06:40.940 --> 0:06:43.010 you don't have to pay the Medicare levy surcharge if 0:06:43.010 --> 0:06:46.250 you're earning over the typical threshold is 90 K, But, 0:06:46.250 --> 0:06:48.770 you know, it sort of gets more and more as 0:06:48.770 --> 0:06:50.240 you earn more and more. So if you're in that 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.460 hundred K plus sort of bracket, I would say that 0:06:52.460 --> 0:06:55.940 that definitely starts to become something that you should consider. 0:06:55.940 --> 0:06:59.420 But obviously outside of that, entirely outside of that, anyone 0:06:59.420 --> 0:07:04.130 with any sort of specific medical conditions that require private health, 0:07:04.339 --> 0:07:08.030 things like regular surgeries or any sort of chronic illness 0:07:08.029 --> 0:07:10.610 or anything like that, often private health is almost a 0:07:10.610 --> 0:07:13.100 necessity for people to have those sort of conditions. So 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.630 that would be another sort of, you know, major bucket 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.620 of of people who would need private health. 0:07:19.070 --> 0:07:22.370 Yeah, In terms of the tax dodge, if you're over 90,000, 0:07:22.370 --> 0:07:26.600 it is for singles and over $180,000 of income for families, 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:29.330 you're going to get hit with that Medicare levy surcharge 0:07:29.330 --> 0:07:32.180 and it does scale up as well. So just taking 0:07:32.180 --> 0:07:36.230 the case of a single if the Medicare levy surcharge 0:07:36.230 --> 0:07:39.770 kicks in at a rate of 1% of your income, 0:07:39.770 --> 0:07:45.500 if you're between 90,000 and 105,000, it's 1.25% for everyone 0:07:45.500 --> 0:07:51.470 earning between 105 and 140,000, and it tops out at 1.5% 0:07:51.470 --> 0:07:55.340 for everyone earning $140,000 and above. So if you do 0:07:55.340 --> 0:07:58.220 the numbers on that, say you're on 120 grand, you're 0:07:58.220 --> 0:08:01.460 going to get hit with the 1.25% rate. And it's 0:08:01.460 --> 0:08:04.610 not like taxes, income taxes where you only get charged 0:08:04.610 --> 0:08:07.190 the higher amount on that marginal income above the certain 0:08:07.190 --> 0:08:10.220 threshold that's on your whole income. So you would actually 0:08:10.220 --> 0:08:13.910 be paying about 1500 dollars if you're on that 120 0:08:13.910 --> 0:08:17.450 K income. So it starts to get a pretty hefty 0:08:17.450 --> 0:08:19.790 whack you're going to get, and particularly if you can 0:08:19.790 --> 0:08:22.850 get a policy like my policy is less than $1,000. 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.850 You know, if I was on 120, I'd be saving 0:08:25.850 --> 0:08:29.390 myself $500 from, you know, I've had to pay for 0:08:29.390 --> 0:08:33.920 the thousand dollar premiums, but then I've avoided the $1,500 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:34.700 in taxes. 0:08:35.210 --> 0:08:38.540 See, I did the maths in terms of, you know, the, 0:08:38.990 --> 0:08:42.010 the amount that I would save theoretically in term. But, 0:08:42.050 --> 0:08:44.569 you know, if I did start a very, very basic 0:08:44.570 --> 0:08:48.140 private health cover and it was really, really negligible, I 0:08:48.140 --> 0:08:51.470 think it was like maybe a maybe $100 or maybe 0:08:51.470 --> 0:08:53.840 a couple of hundred dollars for the whole year. And 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.000 in the end I was like, No, I'm not going 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:56.329 to do it. 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.480 Do you know what? That's legit, because maybe you might 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.780 just decide instead of paying $1,000 for an insurance policy, 0:09:02.780 --> 0:09:04.880 I don't really think I'm going to use. Maybe I'll 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.910 just chip in the $1,000 to federal government coffers and 0:09:07.910 --> 0:09:10.040 that can pay for some nice stuff, you know? 0:09:10.100 --> 0:09:13.160 Exactly. I like to view it as an altruistic sort of, 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.100 you know, giving back to the good of of the world. 0:09:16.100 --> 0:09:19.820 I'm paying my taxes. I just think, like especially cause 0:09:19.820 --> 0:09:21.950 that basic level of private health cover, the one that 0:09:21.950 --> 0:09:24.350 is sort of the tax dodge in a sense. It 0:09:24.350 --> 0:09:27.319 doesn't cover things like dental often and all that sort 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:28.640 of stuff, which is the sort of stuff that I 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:30.960 would actually use in a year. And I was sitting 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:32.490 there and thinking like, you know, how many times, you know, 0:09:32.490 --> 0:09:33.830 as I'm going to cover my GP visits is not 0:09:33.830 --> 0:09:35.360 going to cover my dental, it's not going to cover, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.359 you know, I don't have glasses or anything like that, 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:39.470 so I don't need any of that sort of stuff. 0:09:39.470 --> 0:09:41.240 So I was like, Well, I'm done. I don't think 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:42.740 I'm going to get a huge benefit out of this, 0:09:42.740 --> 0:09:44.150 but obviously each to your own. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:46.580 Yeah, and you might just want to keep checking in 0:09:46.580 --> 0:09:49.310 with that as your income goes up as you get 0:09:49.309 --> 0:09:51.410 older because it does reach a point, you know, if 0:09:51.410 --> 0:09:54.740 you are scaling into the higher 100 thousands of dollars 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.040 where there is, that gap does start to really open up. 0:09:58.490 --> 0:10:01.100 And that is essentially why I have it as as 0:10:01.100 --> 0:10:04.200 the tax dodge. Yeah. So that. Side. If people are 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.710 looking at taking out private health insurance policies or indeed 0:10:07.710 --> 0:10:09.809 if you already have one. We thought we would give 0:10:09.809 --> 0:10:11.910 you five handy tips for ways to save, because I 0:10:11.910 --> 0:10:13.980 love a little listicle of ways to Save. 0:10:14.010 --> 0:10:17.689 We love lists. Lists are great. So number one, which 0:10:17.690 --> 0:10:19.579 is we've mentioned a couple of times, is just going 0:10:19.580 --> 0:10:22.340 for the absolute basic level hospital cover. Like you can 0:10:22.340 --> 0:10:26.060 look on the websites for various private health providers and 0:10:26.059 --> 0:10:29.360 they will sort of often advertise these these basic ones. 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:30.679 Or you can just get on the phone and just 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:32.719 call them up and literally just say to them, Hey, 0:10:33.050 --> 0:10:34.550 I just want to I just want to avoid paying 0:10:34.550 --> 0:10:36.620 the levy. What can you give me? What's the absolute 0:10:36.620 --> 0:10:39.500 most barebones package you can give me? And this will 0:10:39.710 --> 0:10:43.160 mean you don't get any extras like as we mentioned earlier, 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.640 like dental and optical, which you call optical. 0:10:46.820 --> 0:10:48.460 Optical. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:10:49.190 --> 0:10:51.170 Those sort of things. Those are the sort of stuff 0:10:51.170 --> 0:10:53.240 that people typically talk about when they talk about extras, like, 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.910 you know, chiropractor's and all that sort of stuff. You 0:10:55.910 --> 0:10:57.560 won't get that. You'll just get the sort of the 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.829 basic hospital cover. And that just means that you'll avoid 0:11:00.830 --> 0:11:03.440 the surcharge. So that's that's what you should be looking for. 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.600 If your entire purpose of having health insurance is just 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.429 to stop paying extra tax. 0:11:07.970 --> 0:11:10.040 Yeah, that's me. I've literally rung up and had that 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.380 conversation with just I don't know how it makes me 0:11:12.380 --> 0:11:13.970 seem as a person, but I'm just like, I just 0:11:13.970 --> 0:11:16.640 want to avoid paying tax. Please give me your cheapest 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:21.620 hospital policy. And the hospital policies go from basic to bronze, 0:11:21.620 --> 0:11:24.770 silver and gold in terms of what they cover you for. 0:11:24.950 --> 0:11:27.020 So if you do choose to go up the scale, 0:11:27.170 --> 0:11:29.060 I always say, you know, do have a read through 0:11:29.090 --> 0:11:31.550 what is included. And if you're young, do you really 0:11:31.550 --> 0:11:34.790 need the hip replacements and the cataract coverage and, you know, 0:11:34.790 --> 0:11:36.829 the weight loss surgery and, you know, who knows what 0:11:36.830 --> 0:11:39.199 will happen? But that's where I got into a mess 0:11:39.230 --> 0:11:41.210 because they show you this long list of things that 0:11:41.210 --> 0:11:43.069 could possibly go wrong with you. And I go, Oh, 0:11:43.070 --> 0:11:45.830 my gosh, my health anxiety is at an all time high. 0:11:45.830 --> 0:11:48.020 I better have coverage for everything. Well, I. 0:11:48.020 --> 0:11:49.760 Feel like that's that's how they get you right. Or 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:51.859 it's like, you know, all this could happen to you. Yeah, 0:11:51.890 --> 0:11:55.160 you could. You could, you know, break your toe or 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.079 something like that. It's like, well, think about. 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.440 That. Exactly. And so my number two tip, if you 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.900 are looking at what level of coverage is appropriate for 0:12:02.900 --> 0:12:05.720 your hospital policy, is to be aware of something called 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.540 the mental health waiver, because one of the things that 0:12:08.540 --> 0:12:11.630 goes missing in some of the cheaper policies is coverage 0:12:11.630 --> 0:12:14.840 for psychiatric admissions. So if you you know, maybe you've 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.710 got some mental health issues in your family or you 0:12:17.730 --> 0:12:20.510 worried that you would develop them as you age and 0:12:20.510 --> 0:12:23.390 you need to be admitted to hospital for a psychiatric 0:12:23.390 --> 0:12:28.040 type assessment and admission, they actually change the legislation so that, 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.439 you know, you can not have that in your coverage 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.439 and pay for a cheaper policy. But every Australian is 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:36.650 entitled to, once in their life, use this waiver to 0:12:36.650 --> 0:12:41.179 upgrade their existing coverage to cover psychiatric admissions. If you 0:12:41.179 --> 0:12:43.819 get to a state where that is necessary for you now, 0:12:43.820 --> 0:12:45.950 you have to already have had. You can't just sort 0:12:45.950 --> 0:12:48.920 of have had no policy coverage. But if you've served 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.770 the waiting periods on your existing coverage, you can add 0:12:51.770 --> 0:12:54.170 that on as an optional if you need to use 0:12:54.170 --> 0:12:56.809 those services and if you want to have coverage for those. 0:12:56.809 --> 0:12:59.000 So that's something to keep in mind if you're sort 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:01.040 of looking at that long list of things and going, Oh, 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:03.050 I need you know, I feel like I need that 0:13:03.290 --> 0:13:05.390 everyone can have that if if you do end up 0:13:05.390 --> 0:13:06.230 in that situation. 0:13:06.590 --> 0:13:08.150 Yeah. And if you are looking at this long list 0:13:08.150 --> 0:13:10.580 of things and sort of thinking, oh, maybe I'll have 0:13:10.580 --> 0:13:12.650 this and maybe I'll have this, maybe I do need dental, 0:13:12.650 --> 0:13:14.480 maybe I do need optical, maybe I do need a, 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.090 you know, a chiropractor to come and track my back 0:13:17.090 --> 0:13:20.180 every four months or whatever. This is where you should 0:13:20.179 --> 0:13:24.050 be reviewing your extras coverage regularly. This is our third 0:13:24.050 --> 0:13:27.020 tip every year. Look at what you did use or 0:13:27.020 --> 0:13:29.120 didn't use during the year and think about what you're 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:32.300 going to keep and often like it's also a matter 0:13:32.300 --> 0:13:34.760 of using them before they expire too. Like often, these 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.429 things will take over on the 31st of December and 0:13:37.429 --> 0:13:38.960 you it'll sort of refresh. 0:13:39.020 --> 0:13:42.110 And some do tick over by financial year and some 0:13:42.110 --> 0:13:44.480 by calendar year. You check your one, but there should 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.310 be an almighty rush at the end of the year 0:13:46.309 --> 0:13:48.890 for you to go scurrying around. If you have extra coverage. 0:13:49.429 --> 0:13:49.970 You get. 0:13:49.970 --> 0:13:51.080 To go to the dentist. 0:13:51.170 --> 0:13:54.319 Glasses or you know, go do whatever. And that is 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:55.940 also why it's quite hard to get an appointment with 0:13:55.940 --> 0:13:59.090 a lot of small allied health professionals towards the end 0:13:59.090 --> 0:14:00.540 of the year because everyone's doing exactly the same thing. 0:14:00.540 --> 0:14:03.110 It's trying to max out the the extras coverage, but 0:14:03.110 --> 0:14:05.540 just to know that, you know, the policies come as 0:14:05.540 --> 0:14:09.410 hospitals or extras cover or having them both together. You 0:14:09.410 --> 0:14:12.770 don't need the extras cover to avoid the Medicare levy surcharge. 0:14:12.770 --> 0:14:15.920 You only need an eligible hospital cover. So just to 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.340 stress that the extras are completely optional for you and 0:14:19.340 --> 0:14:21.440 they do try to upsell you with all of that, 0:14:22.100 --> 0:14:24.020 really do the sums to make sure you're going to 0:14:24.020 --> 0:14:26.900 get more back in benefits than you were paying premiums 0:14:26.900 --> 0:14:29.780 on an extras policy. So the fourth tip and this 0:14:29.780 --> 0:14:32.330 is one of my favourite strategies for saving on insurance, 0:14:32.330 --> 0:14:34.220 but that I'm a bit of a dare devil is 0:14:34.220 --> 0:14:38.000 to choose a higher excess. So your excess is the 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.820 amount that you agree to pay out of pocket in 0:14:40.820 --> 0:14:44.150 the event of a claim. So with private health insurance, 0:14:44.150 --> 0:14:47.000 it's set by the government. They determine what the maximum 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.330 allowable excesses are on policies. Which is like because of 0:14:50.330 --> 0:14:52.640 my car insurance, I think my excess is set to 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:56.090 like a thousand or $2,000, meaning that there's lots of 0:14:56.090 --> 0:14:58.820 claims that just wouldn't be worth making because my out-of-pocket 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.090 cost of my excess is so large. So the government 0:15:02.090 --> 0:15:06.320 set it at $750 as the excess for private health 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.430 insurance for singles and $1,500 for couples. And that has 0:15:10.430 --> 0:15:12.800 increased in recent years. So if you haven't reviewed your 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.230 private health insurance for a while, there may now be 0:15:15.230 --> 0:15:17.710 an option for you to. Increase your access to those 0:15:18.070 --> 0:15:19.960 what might be higher amounts that what you've got them 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:21.970 sit at. And when you have the higher access you 0:15:21.970 --> 0:15:25.030 pay lower premiums on ongoing. So it is a bit 0:15:25.030 --> 0:15:27.550 of a gamble because if you have to claim you're 0:15:27.550 --> 0:15:29.590 going to be out of pocket, but if you don't 0:15:29.590 --> 0:15:32.140 claim it, you can just reap those savings. And often 0:15:32.140 --> 0:15:34.780 you can not claim for long enough that the savings 0:15:34.780 --> 0:15:37.300 that you've made would sort of add up to what 0:15:37.510 --> 0:15:40.090 the out-of-pocket cost could be. So it's a bit of 0:15:40.090 --> 0:15:43.150 a a gamble. But, you know, if you if you're 0:15:43.150 --> 0:15:44.890 a young, healthy person and you're not being admitted to 0:15:44.890 --> 0:15:47.470 hospital for cataract surgery and all the rest of the 0:15:47.470 --> 0:15:50.710 things on your hospital policies, definitely playing with your excess 0:15:50.710 --> 0:15:52.510 is one way that you can look at. And particularly 0:15:52.510 --> 0:15:54.850 if you have someone who's looking at dropping coverage altogether, 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:56.980 you know, with things are getting more expensive. You know, 0:15:56.980 --> 0:15:59.020 if you're just looking for ways to make it cheaper 0:15:59.020 --> 0:16:01.810 for you to have a call to your insurer and 0:16:01.810 --> 0:16:02.860 talk about the excess. 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:04.750 Yeah, I mean, I think if I was to get 0:16:04.750 --> 0:16:06.520 private health, I would have my access set at the 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:10.360 absolute maximum because I don't get admitted to hospital particularly 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.820 frequently and I don't plan to be so. I mean, 0:16:12.970 --> 0:16:15.280 obviously no one plans to be right. You know, you're 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:16.450 not sitting there to be like, Damn, I think I'm 0:16:16.450 --> 0:16:18.220 going to get into a car accident tomorrow. But, you know, 0:16:18.220 --> 0:16:21.160 like I you know, you're right. Younger, healthy people can 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.070 probably afford to have a higher excess. And just finally, 0:16:24.070 --> 0:16:26.050 sort of the perennial tip when it comes to anything 0:16:26.050 --> 0:16:28.390 like this is just shopping around, making sure that you 0:16:28.390 --> 0:16:31.720 don't just go through the single whatever your mum's on 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.090 or whatever your friends are on. Make sure you you 0:16:34.210 --> 0:16:36.850 go and look at various different things. The government website 0:16:36.850 --> 0:16:38.920 is w w w dot private health look of that 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.740 are you, which is where you can go and have 0:16:41.740 --> 0:16:43.720 a look a little bit, little bit of looking, compare 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:45.490 some of the different products that are out there. 0:16:45.790 --> 0:16:47.979 Yeah. I've actually used that one and found it not 0:16:47.980 --> 0:16:51.580 particularly great of the government comparison websites, but it is 0:16:51.580 --> 0:16:54.820 worth having a little look you know all those websites 0:16:54.820 --> 0:16:58.040 like canstar finder compare the market you know just put 0:16:58.270 --> 0:17:01.240 compare health insurance policies and some of them you have 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.330 to give away your life details and they'll then seriously 0:17:04.330 --> 0:17:06.699 call you on your mobile phone and you have to 0:17:06.700 --> 0:17:09.160 ignore it for several weeks if you don't actually want 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:10.960 if you're just trying to test the market and find 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.600 out what the prices are, but just ringing up and 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:15.760 ringing up and seeing what discounts are, just asking for 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.240 a discount. They're now allowed to offer younger people discounts, 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.490 which they weren't allowed to do before. Sometimes you can 0:17:21.490 --> 0:17:25.140 get 6 to 8 weeks, you know, free premiums, you know, 0:17:25.150 --> 0:17:28.660 for signing up. And another little tip is also to 0:17:28.660 --> 0:17:31.570 ask if your employer, if you have sort of one 0:17:31.570 --> 0:17:35.109 salaried job, has an a corporate discount. So I think 0:17:35.109 --> 0:17:38.379 for our employer, I'm getting about an extra 5% off 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.439 just because they had some arrangements. So you just ask, 0:17:41.650 --> 0:17:44.080 are there any corporate discounts or sort of bulk discounts 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.270 that you could apply and just have a little bit 0:17:46.270 --> 0:17:46.810