For example if you were in hospital for 3 days you pay $150 ($50 per day x 3 days). The excess is applied on each admission into hospital for the year, however, it could be capped at a total amount that you would have to pay in a year.Ī co-payment could be a lesser amount that is paid each day for the services that you receive in hospital. This could end up being a very costly exercise for you.Īn excess is an upfront payment that you agree to pay before the health fund benefits are payable. Ideally try and ensure that you are not purchasing a hospital policy that requires you to pay both, an excess and a co-payment, when you are admitted to hospital. 6) Excess or Co-payments, try to avoid paying both when you purchase a Hospital policyĮxcesses or Co-payment options vary from health fund to health fund you generally either pay one or the other. iSelect can also help you compare your existing policy against iSelect's participating health funds.
iSelect has the advantage of being able to compare policy combinations from across its participating funds and to enable you to purchase your chosen policy quickly and simply. ISelect helps take the complexity out of shopping for private health insurance. This could substantially reduce your out-of-pocket expenses. It is important to review your current policy/s and make sure that the premiums you are paying are competitive and cover you for all the services that you need. How you may ask? There may be an extras policy with another health fund that pays better rebates for services that are important to you - like orthodontic or optical services, whilst yet other health funds may offer a hospital policy that better suits your current needs. By using different health insurers for your hospital and general treatment policies (extras) you could be doing yourself a favour and helping to save on your hospital and extras policies. Your hospital and extras covers don't necessarily need to be with the same health insurer. This wide variation makes comparing extras covers difficult for the average consumer, so call an iSelect consultant today on 13 19 20 and let them make life easier for you. Some general treatment services are bundled together, and a benefit limit applied to the bundle of services. For example, some policies set their benefit limits (for each service) on a per person basis, whilst others apply family benefit limits on each service. The cost of the policy should be weighed up against what you get back in terms of services offered and benefits paid. There is a variation between health funds on what services are offered and what you'll get back as rebates, so make sure that your cover satisfies your requirements and the cost of the cover is competitive. Many consumers opt for hospital cover as well as general treatment (extras) cover for services such as dentistry, physiotherapy, optical, and others. Before switching funds, iSelect recommends that you check to ensure that waiting periods will not need to be re-served. Don't forget to review your policy - make sure the premium is competitive. However, legislation guarantees that if and when you change funds you will not have to re-serve waiting periods for services you were covered for with your previous fund. People often don't switch funds because they believe they have to re-serve waiting periods. If you are currently covered for a particular service on your hospital policy you generally will not have to re-serve waiting periods (in most cases) if you change health funds - this is protected by law. There are a range of great health covers out there so don't be afraid of switching funds. 2) Consider giving your current hospital cover a health check The MLS will increase to 1.25% if you earn over $105,000 ($210,000 for couples, families and single parents) and 1.5% if you earn over $140,000 ($280,000 for couples, families and single parents).įor more information about the MLS please contact the Australian Taxation Office, or consult a tax professional. For most people this MLS charge applies if you don't have private hospital cover. 1) Don't pay the taxman more than you have toīeware: If you're moving up the income scale you could end up losing a percentage of your taxable income through the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS).įor example, for the 2014-2015 tax year if you earn over $90,000 per year ($180,000 for couples, families and single parents), you may be exposed to an EXTRA 1% MLS in addition to the 2% Medicare Levy you already pay in tax.
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