Medicare in Australia covers a good portion of your medical needs, but can fall short in a number of areas. For example, certain ‘elective’ surgeries are not covered (even though not ‘electing’ them can have painful consequences), Medicare does not offer choices, and the public system has longer wait-times. Private Health Insurance is not even something reserved only for the wealthy as there is an incentive rebate offered to cover a portion of the cost of the premium based on your family’s annual income. Private health insurance can cover unexpected surcharges and costs that can help you plan your family’s financial future.
Health insurance – Shutterstock
Increase Flexibility with Private Health Insurance
If experiencing medical needs under Australia’s Medicare system you must go to a public hospital and be treated by a public physician. Which physician you see is not your choice, so you can end up with a physician whose approaches you disagree with. Under private health insurance schemes, you are able to choose your physician and your hospital. Not only can you choose which medical care professional you see at your medical facility of choice, but you can also gain greater flexibility by selecting a medical plan that really fits your life and family situation. You can elect for optional coverage that may only apply to you and save by refusing coverage on medical situations that do not apply to you.
Longer Wait Times with Medicare
When getting medical attention under the Medicare system, there are always long wait-times. These are due to the fact that you will have to wait for an opening at the public hospital. Under private health insurance plans, the wait times are significantly shorter as you can choose which doctor you will see, and the doctors are able to limit their own patient workload, allowing them to schedule patients in shorter amounts of time.
In Top Medical Condition?
If you are young and healthy and don’t expect to have any chronic medical issues in the near future, you may not need private health insurance as Medicare is able to comfortably cover accidents and injuries with minimal wait times. Also because of the relative simplicity of accidents, you are likely not going to disagree with the approach of whichever physician is assigned to you in the event you need to go to the hospital. However, to incentivize this particular population to participate in private health insurance coverage, you may be required to pay a 2% surcharge on your premium if you are over the age of 31 and do not have private health insurance.
Health insurance – Shutterstock
Cover other Conditions
Regardless of whether or not you have hospital cover you can elect extras cover. Extras cover is beneficial for those who have regular trips to the optometrist, physiotherapist, dentist or other medical professionals not fully covered under Medicare. Using private health insurance, you are able to reduce some of these costs by electing extras cover which will provide coverage over these situation under the right plan.
While the Medicare system can generally meet your basic needs, if you switch health insurance to get a better private plan, it is much more able to meet your medical needs as in individual. Whether you would like to experience shorter wait times for needed services, cover conditions not covered by Medicare, reduce the likelihood of unexpected costly surcharges, or increase the flexibility of your family’s medical care, private health insurance can help you along the way.
