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Australian Unity medical fund


JackoFam

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Hi All

 

I am in the midst of trying to arrange private medical insurance for our family and as per a few recommendations I contacted iselect and after a lengthy consultation they came up with a very reasonable quote from a fund called Australian Unity. Now I was expecting to go with either HCF, medibank or Bupa as I had heard about these. Does anyone know this fund? 

 

Thanks

 

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Over the years I have heard and read some good/bad things about them.

 

We are with HCF, we are on a 100% hospital plan only, and have been on it for 17 years... never had a problem and have had plenty of claims...

 

Perhaps google "reviews" on the various funds?

 

I think sometimes, it is like comparing apples to pears, every fund offers different services, some may be good, some may be awful. For instance I have heard of many that have complained about HCF's extras... as I do not have extras and only hospitalisation, I can honestly say they have been great... Been hospitalised three times, with a total cost of around $100,000.

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  • 1 month later...

Just be aware that all the medical funds are going to apply lifetime cover for all new foreign applications, they don't accept your SA medical aid as proof of cover. So you can add in something like 20% extra on the total you are quoted. I got nailed to. Just check it out and ask those questions to before you commit.

 

Regards

 

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@sbhennops, are you sure that the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading is applied to all new foreign health insurance members?

 

My interpretation of this statement by the Department of Health is that new migrants can entirely avoid LHC loading by taking health insurance before the first annivarsary of their Medicare registration. The same information is reflected here, here, and in this Australian Government PDF guide. I hope this information is still current.

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Don't know how true it is but I have heard or read somewhere that Discovery health has an arrangement of some sort with one of the Australian medical institutions and they accept a Discovery health membership certificate? I may be wrong....

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@sbhennops and @Kevin we did not have to pay the LHC, all we had to do was provide a letter from Medicare stating that we were members. We ended up going with a company called PeopleCare and they guided us on what we needed.

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Do you perhaps know how a 489 visa holder will be impacted by this, as of course, we can't register for Medicare.  Does that mean we will be subject to the LHC? We are well over 40, and hubby turning 50 soon, which means our loading could potentially be huge!

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On ‎4‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 1:42 AM, Kevin said:

@sbhennops, are you sure that the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading is applied to all new foreign health insurance members?

 

My interpretation of this statement by the Department of Health is that new migrants can entirely avoid LHC loading by taking health insurance before the first annivarsary of their Medicare registration. The same information is reflected here, here, and in this Australian Government PDF guide. I hope this information is still current.

I think you may be correct. Just check with Medicare, I know if you are here long and don't have medical cover, they can hit you as high as 30% on top of your premiums, for 10 years before you pay medical without loading. Not sure on the how long before they charge you, as my hubby is an ozzie and was not big on info about those things. By the time I figured it out I was paying LHC at 15% on my premium. Sucks so make sure to look into it first thing before it bites you.

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Thanks, @JackoFam and @sbhennops. Sorry to hear you got saddled with loading. It's a bit of a raw deal.

 

My understanding is that public health provisioning is very good in Australia. I also see the value of private insurance, but I'm not fond of the way that LHC is implemented. It seems to me that it would have a very negative effect of hampering the economically challenged demographic from elevating themselves into middle class. The poor are likely to have lived most of their lives without private health insurance, so they are most likely to be hit by LHC the moment they can begin to be able to afford cover. That's an unfortunate side-effect of the policy. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

I intend to get private health cover for my family when we arrive in Australia.

Edited by Kevin
corrected grammar
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On 2017/03/04 at 7:26 AM, MichKen said:

Do you perhaps know how a 489 visa holder will be impacted by this, as of course, we can't register for Medicare.  Does that mean we will be subject to the LHC? We are well over 40, and hubby turning 50 soon, which means our loading could potentially be huge!

 

@MichKen, my understanding is that Lifetime Health Cover loading is only relevant to people who are in a position to register for Medicare. There is an example of case like yours on page 5 of this document. I'll include the relevant text here for posterity in case the link should become invalid in time.

 

"Javier is aged 35 and he migrates to Australia on 1 March 2008. He has a temporary residency visa and is not eligible for Medicare. On 1 May 2010 he is accepted as an applicant for permanent residency and becomes eligible for Medicare. Javier applies for a Medicare card on 1 June 2010. If he takes out hospital cover before 1 June 2011, no LHC loading applies. If Javier delays until after 1 June 2011, a LHC loading based on his age is applied. The important date is the date that Medicare Australia accepts his application for a Medicare card. Javier’s visa status is not important."

 

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22 hours ago, Kevin said:

Thanks, @JackoFam and @sbhennops. Sorry to hear you got saddled with loading. It's a bit of a raw deal.

 

My understanding is that public health provisioning is very good in Australia. I also see the value of private insurance, but I'm not fond of the way that LHC is implemented. It seems to me that it would have a very negative effect of hampering the economically challenged demographic from elevating themselves into middle class. The poor are likely to have lived most of their lives without private health insurance, so they are most likely to be hit by LHC the moment they can begin to be able to afford cover. That's an unfortunate side-effect of the policy. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

I intend to get private health cover for my family when we arrive in Australia.

Hey Kevin. I know the public health system is good, I work in a public hospital in Brizzy. But having private health speed things up in and emergency situation. And public health does not really provide dental.

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We were with Australian Unity initially.  Not a good experience... 

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Hi @JackoFam, who did you decide to go with in the end? Any particular reason?

Hope you don't mind me asking.

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