OubaasDik Posted December 23, 2016 Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Hi all, Just a heads-up for all of you who think that taking no private health cover or just the absolute minimum will be fine. My neighbour is a tradie (glazier) and messed his back up (actually far upper back). He was in agony with pinched nerves. He has already had a previous fusion and this time he messed up the prior op. Anyway it's all complicated and he isn't exactly sophisticated and I'm not medically literate. So he needed a couple of vertebrae fused and was sent to see a surgeon. His options were Public (medicare) - advantages - free - disadvantages - 11 month waiting list and it's a sole owner/worker business Private (medibank with the absolute minimum cover) - immediate, but he has to pay about $15k for the operation and about $10k PER DAY for hospital Anyway, I took him to the hospital and dropped him off yesterday (Thursday) morning, and this morning I drove to Sydney and back - when I pulled in this early arvo he was being delivered back home. They did the op and withing 30 hurs he had been discharged. He looked a little einas, but that's not the point. By getting out a day early he saved himself $10K and I really suspect he is going to look VERY carefully at adjusting his cover. I suppose what I'm saying is "Be careful, people" - don't just grab any cover because it means the Tax Office doesn't maul you - rather look for something that suits you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danie.v.H Posted December 23, 2016 Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 OubaasDik What are the different covers you get. Regards Danie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahWi Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 On 12/23/2016 at 10:48 AM, OubaasDik said: Hi all, Just a heads-up for all of you who think that taking no private health cover or just the absolute minimum will be fine. My neighbour is a tradie (glazier) and messed his back up (actually far upper back). He was in agony with pinched nerves. He has already had a previous fusion and this time he messed up the prior op. Anyway it's all complicated and he isn't exactly sophisticated and I'm not medically literate. So he needed a couple of vertebrae fused and was sent to see a surgeon. His options were Public (medicare) - advantages - free - disadvantages - 11 month waiting list and it's a sole owner/worker business Private (medibank with the absolute minimum cover) - immediate, but he has to pay about $15k for the operation and about $10k PER DAY for hospital Anyway, I took him to the hospital and dropped him off yesterday (Thursday) morning, and this morning I drove to Sydney and back - when I pulled in this early arvo he was being delivered back home. They did the op and withing 30 hurs he had been discharged. He looked a little einas, but that's not the point. By getting out a day early he saved himself $10K and I really suspect he is going to look VERY carefully at adjusting his cover. I suppose what I'm saying is "Be careful, people" - don't just grab any cover because it means the Tax Office doesn't maul you - rather look for something that suits you. Good to know. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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