Keeping Healthy for Life

Even if you have excellent health insurance, getting sick may still be expensive. What’s more, chronic health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure may take years off your life and money out of your pocket. Doing a few simple things to keep yourself healthy won’t just help you to live longer, and with a higher quality of life — it may save you money in the long run.

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Eat Right and Get Regular Exercise

By now, we all know that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, low fat proteins and fibre is the best way to maintain our health and our weight. But that doesn’t stop us from relying at times on a diet of takeout foods, unhealthy junk foods, and sugary soft drinks and snacks.

Changing the way we eat — and  the impact of our diets on our health — is easier said than done, but making small changes, slowly, can help you to get on the right track to better eating and better health. Just trading out full-fat dairy products for low-fat or no-fat options, replacing fried meats for baked, broiled or grilled dishes, saving soft drinks for special occasions and watching the salt and sugar you add to foods are small, manageable changes that can set you on the path to better health without totally overhauling your diet.

Adding some regular exercise to your routine will also help. Getting regular exercise, even if it’s just 20 to 30 minutes, three or four times a week, may help you lower your body fat, cholesterol, blood pressure and risk for diabetes. What’s more, it will help build bone and muscle that can keep you strong.

The right diet and exercise won’t just improve your well-being and reduce your weight – it may also help you save money on prescription medications, medical care and health insurance excesses or co-payments. A poor diet and lack of exercise may catch up with you one day in financial, as well as health, terms.

Get Regular Checkups

We often think we’re too busy or strapped for cash to have regular checkups, but in truth, going without is something neither your budget nor your health can afford. Waiting until you’re in seriously poor health to see a doctor is like waiting until it starts raining before you close the windows — by then, some of the damage is already done.

The importance of seeing your physician regularly for a checkup can’t be overstated; seeing a physician at least once a year may help you to catch some health conditions early, and may help to prevent others altogether. Medicare and most health insurance plans allow for yearly checkups that can help you to keep healthy without spending a lot of money.

Take Care of Your Teeth

Having a mouth full of pearly whites won’t guarantee good health for life, but simply taking better care of your oral health can help you to avoid some health problems. Poor flossing habits have been linked to everything from oral cancers to heart disease, and failing to brush regularly can result in painful and expensive dental clinic visits. Even if your private health fund doesn’t include cover for dental care, you can do a lot to contribute to your health by brushing and flossing every day.

Making an effort to keep yourself healthy is not just the key to a longer life — it’s the key to avoiding expensive medical conditions.  And if you have only public or basic level private health insurance cover, it’s the best way to avoid letting a small health problem snowball into a huge one that you can ill afford.

Compare Health Insurance for the Whole Family

When you’re looking to compare private health insurance for the whole family, it may often be the case that a Family policy may provide the best value for money. Within this, there will be things to think about when you’re looking to compare private health cover that will benefit everyone.

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How long can children remain on a family policy?

For most, Family cover will be the most cost effective type of private health insurance policy and while you’ve still got dependent children living at home, they can be kept on your private health insurance policy at no extra cost. According to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, a dependent child is “unmarried … under the age of 18 years,” but check with your health fund to confirm their specific criteria for what is classed as a dependent child.

Your health fund may also extend this up to the age of 25 for full-time students, provided that certain criteria are met. This will often mean that your child must be studying at a recognised educational institution or in a recognised apprenticeship or traineeship, is not married, and is not working full-time or earning over a set amount. Again, check with your health fund to find out their eligibility criteria for a student dependent.

If your child fits neither of these options, you may want to look into Extended Family Cover, which may cost more than standard Family cover.

Be selective

It’s natural to want to protect your family finances against as many potential scenarios as possible, but you may not need all of the policy extras that are available to you. By narrowing your selection down to just the optional extras that are relevant to you and your family, you may help to make your private health insurance cheaper while still making sure that you’ve got the right cover for your family.

If there are any extras that you feel may be needed further down the line but not right now, don’t forget to factor in waiting periods, especially for pre-existing conditions. Many private health funds impose waiting periods of up to 12 months for pre-existing conditions (with some exceptions, e.g. for psychiatric care), so if you only look to arrange the cover after you realise that there’s a health problem in your family, you may not be fully covered until the waiting period has been served.

Some of the optional extras that may benefit your family include:

• Dental. General dental cover covers things like dental check-ups, x-rays, fillings and extractions.
• Optical. Medicare will usually cover eye tests from approved practitioners, but to cover things like glasses and contact lenses, you’ll need optical cover.
• Orthodontic. If your children need things like braces to straighten their teeth or align their jaw, orthodontic cover may help to pay for these.
• Physiotherapy. If someone in your family has a neurological, developmental or respiratory condition which requires physiotherapy treatment, you may find this cover useful.
• Podiatry. Once your children are able to walk, they may need care for their feet. Adults may also have treatment requirements for foot health at any stage in life. Podiatry cover can help to pay for treatment costs.

Making sure that your new baby is covered

To make sure that your newborn is covered straight away, make sure that you have the relevant cover at least several months before the birth. If you don’t already have appropriate cover e.g. Family Cover or Single Parent Cover, you’ll need to switch to it before the birth.

When you’re looking to compare private health insurance for the whole family, think about the level of optional cover that your family may need. Benefits such as dental, orthodontics and optical can be important where children are concerned, but you may want to exclude cover that doesn’t seem relevant to your family. As your family grows, you’ll probably need to make some changes to your policy, but you may save money by not taking on extras that you don’t yet need, as long as you take waiting periods into account. If you’re about to start your family soon, don’t forget to make sure that you have the right cover in place before the birth, or your newborn may not be covered straight away.

Sports Injuries and your Health Insurance

Millions of people take part in sports related activities on a daily basis. Unfortunately, some of these people get hurt from time to time. No matter what type of sport you are playing, there is always a chance of injury. However, this alone is no reason to stay away. After all, sports can be a lot of fun.

If you have strong private health insurance coverage, you may not have as much to worry about in the event of an injury, as some costs may be paid by your health fund. That being said, there are still a few details here and there that you should keep in mind. You may think that all sports related injuries are covered by Medicare or by your private health fund, but this is not always the case.

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Know what is covered

As with any type of insurance, you need to know what is and is not covered by your policy. If you don’t know the answer to this question, contact your insurer for a detailed explanation. Although many types of injury and treatment will be covered, it is better to be safe than sorry. When it comes to your health insurance policy, knowledge is power.

Don’t Lie or Leave Anything Out

If you were injured playing sports, you need to be open and honest about it with any doctor or medical facility that you visit. If you stretch the truth, your diagnosis and treatment may be less effective based on incorrect or incomplete information about how your injury occurred. Tell your doctor what happened and deal with the insurance ramifications at a later date. Remember, the most important thing is that you get the help necessary to ensure your long term health.

Pre-existing Sports Injuries

When you apply for health insurance, you need to make your insurer aware of any preexisting conditions. And yes, this includes those that could be related to sporting injuries. Again, this is an area in which you have to be 100 percent honest. If you have a preexisting condition it is important that this is noted in your policy. Neglecting to do so could lead to your health insurance claim being denied should you need treatment for the same (or related) conditions in the future.

Medicare provides some essential treatments for accidental injury. However, there may be other insurance features and points of coverage available through private health funds. If you play sports, there is a good chance that you may need to receive medical attention for a sports related injury at some point in time. If you have health insurance that covers the types of sports injuries you’re most likely to experience, this offers some peace of mind, not to mention the fact that it will be more affordable then paying the costs yourself at short notice.

There is no denying your responsibility to yourself – how much do you know about your health insurance cover for sporting injuries?. Of course, this is something you may want to check on with your insurer to learn more about the finer details. Playing sports is fun and exciting, but getting injured can put a damper on your good time. As long as you have adequate health insurance cover for sports injury care, you may find this financial help with the costs of treatment very useful.

5 Simple Things that May Lower Your Health Insurance Costs

The federal government manages the country’s health insurance system, but you still have to accept that there will tend to be annual rate increases. Making a private health insurance comparison is a good approach to see if you can find a cost-effective policy that suits your needs. To make a fair comparison, however, you need to be familiar with certain aspects that have a direct effect on premiums and other costs. Presented here are five things that may lower your health insurance costs:

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1. Excess and co-payment

These two are common mechanisms that may help you to lower your private health insurance premiums. An excess is a particular amount you agree to pay out of your own pocket for hospital expenses before the actual insurance benefit kicks in. This is why this is also sometimes called a front-end deductible. A co-payment is similar in that it is also an amount you agree to pay on your own. But this is usually a partial cost of a particular hospital service, like accommodation for example. Excesses and co-pays feature in hospital insurance policies and the usual pattern is that premiums become lower as excess or co-payment amounts become higher.

2. Method of payment and rate protection

As you compare private health insurance products from various service providers, you might come across some lower prices offered based on how you pay your premium. Some insurers for example may offer lower premiums if you decide to pay through a salary deduction scheme, an automatic debit from a bank account, or even just a simple advance payment of several months’ premium.

If you can manage it, paying for a whole year in advance may make you eligible for health insurance rate protection. If health insurance rates increase within a year, those who still aren’t fully paid may be burdened with the resulting balance or have their coverage periods reduced. With rate protection you don’t have to worry about such events, at least within the year of coverage you’ve already paid for in advance.

3. Private Health Insurance Rebate

Even as you compare health cover from various health funds, the federal government has already instituted a way for you to reclaim part of your insurance costs. Started in January 1999, the Private Health Insurance Rebate means that you can get back 30 cents of every dollar you spend on private health insurance. 30% is the set percentage for those under 65 years of age. Those who are 65 to 69 years old can get back 35%, and those who are 70 and above are entitled to 40%. There are several ways you can receive this rebate. You can claim direct payment from a Medicare office, request your insurer to subtract it from your premium, or get it when you accomplish your tax return.

4. Lifetime Health Cover

This is another relevant federal regulation, that prompts rather than rewards. According to the Lifetime Health Cover rule, you will have to pay an additional 2% on your premium for every year that you didn’t have hospital cover above the age of 30. So someone who just got private health insurance at 34, for example, is going to pay 8% more than someone who bought the same type of policy at age 30. The message here is clear – get hospital cover early if you want to reduce health insurance costs in the long run. Take note that the date it kicks in is the 1^st of July after you turn 31.

5. Exclusions and restrictions

These refer to particular treatments or conditions that are either completely outside your policy’s coverage (excluded) or can only receive limited benefits (restricted). Policies may come with default exclusions and/or restrictions, but it’s also possible to actually negotiate or agree to such provisions in order to reduce your premium. Take note that this can be a risky approach compared to simply opting for more excess or co-payments, as you’ll actually be removing coverage and not just simply reducing the payable benefits.

Health Insurance and Lifetime Health Cover

If the only thing that you dread more than the prospect of being hospitalised is the idea of private health insurance comparison, you’re not alone. While we can all agree that health insurance cover may be a valuable investment should we ever be in need of extensive medical treatment, it’s nevertheless an expensive investment to make.

However, putting off purchasing hospital insurance can make securing private health insurance even more expensive. The government’s Lifetime Health Cover initiative rewards you for taking out hospital insurance earlier in life, and adds a financial loading charge should you procrastinate.

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The Lifetime Health Cover Initiative

Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) is an Australian Federal Government initiative that began in 2000 as a way to reward citizens for taking out hospital insurance at a younger age, and for maintaining their hospital cover throughout their lifetime.

Australians who purchase hospital cover before they turn 31 pay the lowest premiums, while those who wait until after age 31 will pay a higher premium, one that grows the longer you delay coverage.

Avoid the LHC Loading

The only way to avoid paying some amount of LHC loading is to purchase hospital cover by the 1st July following your 31st birthday.  Those who wait until after this date to purchase hospital insurance may be required to pay the LHC loading fee.

LHC loading fees can add up the longer you delay purchasing hospital cover. The loading starts at  2% for each year you are over 30. A citizen who waits until age 40 to purchase cover could end up paying an extra 20% for his hospital cover. Wait until age 50, and you could be stuck paying 40% more for your cover. The maximum loading is 70%. Those born before 1934 are exempt from LHC loading.

If unforeseen circumstances such as unemployment or an overseas move make it impossible or illogical for you to pay for your hospital cover, you need not fear being bumped up to LHC loading when you resume payment for your cover. The government allows you to suspend hospital cover for a total of three years (or 1,094 days) during your lifetime without affecting your Lifetime Health Cover loading status. However, If you drop your hospital cover for longer than the three years or 1,094 days, you will most likely incur an LHC loading when you purchase hospital cover again.

In certain circumstances, the 1,094 day period can be extended. For instance, if you’ve lived out of the country continuously for more than 12 months and have made visits back home of less than 90 consecutive days at a time, or if your health fund has agreed to a period of suspension, such as during a time of unemployment or inability to work, you may not be assessed an LHC loading when you pick up hospital cover again.

New to Australia?

Those over age 31 who are migrating to Australia need to obtain hospital cover within 12 months of registering for Medicare benefits, or risk incurring loading charges. Delay purchasing cover more than 12 months, and you will pay 2% more for each year you are over age 30 when you do  purchase your hospital cover.

Reap the Rewards of Continuous Cover

Even if you do put off purchasing your hospital cover so long that you are forced to pay LHC loading, there is good news. Any LHC loading assessed to your hospital cover premium will be removed after you have continuously had cover for 10 years. If you have breaks in your hospital cover after the loading has been removed, you may become liable to pay a LHC loading again in the future.