Advantages of private health insurance

The advantages of having private health insurance over relying on Medicare and the public hospital system are:

• Your choice of doctor
• Shorter waiting time for elective surgery
• Being able to be treated in a private ward
• Luxuries like a TV or phone (you can also pay extra and get these in a public hospital.

Who Benefits Most From Private Health Insurance?

Certain types of people may benefit more from private health cover than others. Factors to consider are:

• Age - the older we get the greater the likelihood of things going wrong.
• Starting a family - you never know what's around the corner with young children.
• Sports - regular sports participation, especially body-contact sports, increase the risk of injury.
• Hi-risk activity - bungee jumpers and rock climbers might feel more comfortable with private cover. However, you will get accident and emergency treatment when you need it in the public health system.
• Poor health - those generally unhealthy or predisposed to illness should consider private cover. But beware of waiting periods for treatment and disclosure requirements applying to pre-existing conditions.

Government Initiatives

In recent years the Government has taken steps to make private health insurance more attractive to Australians in an attempt to take some of the pressure off Medicare and the public hospital system. The Government has a number of financial incentives in place to encourage us to take out private health insurance. They are:

• 30% Rebate - this applies to all private health insurance premiums, including both hospital and ancillary cover.
• Lifetime Health Cover - encourages people to take out hospital cover before they turn 31. It forces those people between the ages of 30 and 65 without private hospital cover to pay a loading on their premiums if they decide to take out hospital cover in the future.
• Medicare Levy Surcharge - single people earning over $50,000 per annum and couples/families earning over $100,000 per annum with no private hospital cover or with hospital cover with a high front-end deductible taken out after 24 May 2000 must pay a further 1% in tax in addition to the standard Medicare Levy.