Health insurance - 457 visa

[Loni]

Hi all,

Firstly I want to say that I just love this forum...and all the happy endings!

My husband has been sponsored with a 457 visa, we've gone for medicals (Yeah!), and a case officer has been assigned..... I'm living on prayers, and I wake up every morning, asking my hubby 'any news yet? '

We've been informed by our migration agent to look into OZ health insurances....that's a good sign, right???

Please help!

We're a family of 4 which include 2 toddlers....any advice on the health insurances. We've gone through a few (Bupa, Medibank, etc.), and also read a lot of negative as well as positive comments about the different companies.

We were contemplating taking out a basic health and medical Insurance and upgrade it once we are in Oz (positive thinking....!)

Any advice is welcome.... Thanks.....and please hold thumbs for our visa.

[leeferg1]

Hi Loni

We came over on a 457 and went with IMAN - just hospital cover. It was the cheapest option at that stage and we figured we could upgrade if we needed to once over here. We are also a family of 4 but my boys were 7 and 10 when we came over. We are generally healthy so taking just the hospital cover suited us. I've never claimed from IMAN so can't comment on that side of things. Ours was purely a financial decision.

Holding thumbs for you!

[Mara]

If you need to see a doctor privately, it could cost you as much as $80 and a specialist for first visit is around $220, follow-up visits usually around $120. I guess your hospital cover will not cover medications, these can be pretty expensive in Australia and you get no rebate on a 457. When you have children, I suggest you consider carefully what kind of medical insurance cover you take out.

[Fish]

If you need to see a doctor privately, it could cost you as much as $80 and a specialist for first visit is around $220, follow-up visits usually around $120. I guess your hospital cover will not cover medications, these can be pretty expensive in Australia and you get no rebate on a 457. When you have children, I suggest you consider carefully what kind of medical insurance cover you take out.

Mara I'm not sure but I have a feeling the type of (more expensive) insurance you have to take out on a 457 covers private specialist visits, not just in-hospital care like the normal PR private hospital insurance. Can anyone confirm this ?

[Loni]

Morning All!

Thanks for the feedback.

I've contacted IMAN as well as BUPA. All the agents were very friendly and helpful, and listen to my basic needs without trying to up sell their products.

We'll most probably settle for BUPA Essential Visitor Cover with Silver extras. The current monthly premium is AUD334.81 - excl. the increase w.e.f 1April. Once the first premium is paid (hopefully on Monday!) they will send us a verification letter that is required by the DIBP for the 457 visa application as requested by our migration officer. Our next premium will be payable once we're in Oz.

Chances are that we might upgrade our extra cover once we are settled.

Next step after this....

Praying,

Waiting,

Holding thumbs......

Good luck to everybody that is waiting.....!

[monsta]

I would also give AHM a call. They are part of medibank. I haven't used them, but they are similar to South African medical aid savings schemes.

With bupa, there are lots of rules which determine your payout on claims. For example, They will tell you that you have $2000 for major dental. The next year they change what qualifies as major dental.

From what I have seen in the adverts, AHM just tell you how much you can spend each year on out of hospital expenses. What you do with it is your business. That might be a lot simpler for someone new to Aus to understand.

Also be careful with Bupa. I am a bupa customer. My example about major dental comes from personal experience. Bupa is good, if you are willing to use doctors on their provider network. I have heard a few stories about how those doctors get you in and out quickly. Its probably because they know Bupa gives them a lot of business.

Also the doctors in the provider network often aren't near public transport. The doctors in shopping centres or near train stations, etc.. generally have enough customers without having to sign up with Bupa.

But if you don't use a doctor on Bupas provider network you will have to pay in extra after each visit.

Also, the bupa providers network doesn't cover GPs. Most bupa customers are covered under Medicare to see their GP. So, I would ask Bupa how visiting your GP works if you don't have Medicare.

Cheers

[Riekie]

Just make sure that whatever cover you take out, it complies with your visa requirements.

PS: No private health covers GP's & Specialist Consultations. The only exception is for international visitors, but then you have to take out health insurance for international visitors. Your regular health insurance won't cover it, even if you are on a temp visa.

[MartinK2409]

Hi guys

We arrived in January (just my wife and I) and went with IMAN. They were fine over the phone and all, but the proof is in the pudding. Last week my wife was not feeling well and I took her to the GP after hours. Had to pay $80 but we can claim a portion of it back. Here's the kicker - he referred us to hospital immediately as he suspected gallstones. Turns out he was right - she was discharged this morning from a private hospital in the northern suburbs of Sydney and we walked out without paying a cent - which the hospital usually would have charged $830 a night for. (Likely to get Doctor's bill separately, but we are on a bit of a step-up plan which covers doctors and specialists visits out of hospital.)

There was a bit of running around for on Friday to confirm that her condition was not pre-existing, but IMAN was great and really went out of our way that we did not have to pay the hospital upfront.

(It appears that the market is quite competitive so feel free to shop around, but just giving our positive experience on IMAN. They are part of NIB, which is huge, so when you go anywhere just say NIB and people will be more comfortable to assist / believe you when you say you have private cover!)

[Fish]

Just make sure that whatever cover you take out, it complies with your visa requirements.

PS: No private health covers GP's & Specialist Consultations. The only exception is for international visitors, but then you have to take out health insurance for international visitors. Your regular health insurance won't cover it, even if you are on a temp visa.

Yes, if you are on a temp work visa like a 457 you have to take out overseas visitor cover (unless from country with reciprocal agreement) which can also optionally cover specialists and GP's from the look of it. For example this is what BUPA says:

If you are applying for a Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa (Subclass 457) you are required to have health insurance for yourself and any family members that are travelling with you. All of our working overseas visitor covers fulfil this requirement and support 457 visa applications. Once you have applied for cover with us, we will email you a verification of cover letter to support your 457 Visa application instantly.

Cover options:

• Access to public and private hospital
• Repatriation cover
• 100% ambulance cover
• Access to private doctors and specialists

Edited March 24, 2015 by Fish

[Loni]

Thanks for all the help and advice.....we've decided on Bupa for now. Essential cover with silver extras - approx Aud384.00, 2 adults, 2children. Our 2nd premium will be debited the month after our arrival in Oz...got our visa letter from Bupa within 10 minutes.....

now for the next step.....

[Nev]

Had a read up on AHM cover:

The good:

You have $1000 to spend on dental, therapies & optical, they pay 60% you pay the balance

The Bad:

They pay "reduced benefits" at private hospitals.... that sounds like you will be out of pocket if you go to a private hospital, and they dont pay for a private room at a public hospital, so if you go part public you still in a shared ward, Medibank and Bupda pay full private in full.

At 60% you will need to spend $1400 per year on dental, Chiro, and optical to get your moneys worth and then you will still be putting in $400 a year of your own $ to get it, dont think this will happen for most peeps.

They dont cover the bits that im really after, like, doctors, blood tests, xrays, cat scans, biopsies, Obstetrics (Baby related stuff), medicine.....etc the list of what they cover is actually really limited.

I'm with Medibank and not happy with what you get for the money still trying to find a good replacement though, will give BUPA a check as well when i get a gap

[Nev]

So BUPA is cheaper than Medibank but not as cheap as AHM

Hospital is fully covered if you go to one of their hospitals, if not they will pay the "standard amount" and you are responsible for the difference, the 3 private hospitals in our area are all in their network and therefore 100% covered, so not sure which ones wont be.

They rebate at 60-66% on the covered non hospital stuff with different limits for different stuff, for example there is no limit on general dental and $1000 on major dental...etc, so much larger limits.

They have a larger list of what is covered, however the stuff that im after.... still not on the list

Same problem of having to pay in bucket loads on each procedure to get the benefit,

There is a "difference payment on pharmacy medicine between the co payment and up to $40" .... short answer you may get a few bucks if the pharmacy is ripping you off, but otherwise you wont get anything

So better than AMH but i still dont think that the extras premium you pay is worth the money unless you spend on things that are perhaps not entirely necessary, like expensive glasses every yer, more than just the occasional filling every few years, regular sports massage... etc, then you still paying 40% of it.

When the big paw paw hits the fan nothing on this list is going to save you from hauling out significant money (Wife got cancer last year - still in process - so i speak from experience), these extras are not insurance, due to the caps you will almost certainly not get back what you paid in for them and in the case of big expenses the caps will prevent them from really helping.

For us it is a waste of money, put the money into savings and at least you can keep it if you dont use it

As a final note, medibank is more expensive, slightly longer and different list, better hospital stuff but not by much, still doesn't cover what you would really need.

So short answer, i think BUPA has the best hospital plan in terms of value for money, everyone's extras are a waste of time unless you are spending significantly on general services and then you will be paying plenty extra on the 40% bit, and you better off just saving the money