Rebates, Reprobates and Health Insurance #ripoff #necessity #insurance

A reader wrote in recently and asked us to put our thoughts out for discussion on Health Insurance, whether or not there should be rebates, and how the whole system can be improved.  Well dear reader and debater this is one of my pet hates. Why the hell do we have spend our well earned money on something that, God willing, may never need to be used. Besides, Australia has a free medical system (sort of) that everyone is entitled to use. Way back, when Medicare came into being each and every Australian was supposedly entitled to universal health care. Yes we paid our 1.5% levy but after that it was supposedly 'free.' 

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When we start work we are encouraged to join health insurance for peace of mind, just in case something happens, and we may need it.  However, when you reach the ripe old age of thirty, if you do not have private health cover the government penalizes you with an extra Medicare levy.  This, they say, is to alleviate the load on the public system and make you take some responsibility for your own health needs. Would it be a catastrophe if we had an accident, had a heart attack or some terrible disease and we did not have cover? No I do not think so, as we always have the public hospital system to fall back on. However, we have been conditioned to do the right thing. so most of us throw our hard earned dollars into health insurance, not knowing if we will ever need to use it. God willing we will never have to!  It is insurance, I hear you say! Insurance is an 'in case' thing. Yes that is true, but would we be better off banking our premiums into a special account so we have a little nest egg 'in case'? When you add up the dollars we pay into them over the years, do any of us really get our monies worth.  Yes, your health is important and, we accept we need them, but do they give us anything back in return? 

For instance if we have contributed for years and never had a claim of significance in comparison to the money invested, are we eligible for a no claim bonus?  Do they cut our rates year by year for our loyalty to them?  When we travel, as a lot of us do these days overseas, do they cover overseas insurance? When we are overseas and away for extended periods where we are covered by travel insurance from other providers,  do we get a rebate calculated on a daily balance for the length of our stay?  

The answer simply is NO!!!!!!!!!!!!  They supposedly encourage us to stay fit and healthy.  They encourage to join gyms etc but the pittance they offer in return for that gym membership  is not worth sitting in a doctor's surgery getting an authorization for a reimbursement.  God knows, the time you spent waiting for that authorization letter, could have been better spent doing a few more bench presses that is far more beneficial to your life than waiting for the few dollars on offer from claiming. Or maybe, you could have done a little overtime to help pay for the escalating health insurance prices.  

When it comes to their pricing structure, I know females that pay the same monthly fees that I do, and I am not likely to be having a baby!  If I did The Women's Weekly would pay me a fortune for my story and I would not need to worry about throwing a few dollars at the health insurance giants.  I would be sitting, breathing deep breaths, delivering the dollars.  Having spoken to a few people who have actually looked at what we are covered for, I asked  are they individually designed for our needs?  For instance a few older people are covered for a clean and scaling their teeth yearly and they don't even have a tooth in their head.  I looked at mine and I am covered for dentures and I don't have a tooth missing.  Go figure!!!! We pay a fortune for this insurance and they are not exactly individually based, and calculated.  Yes, we can take out young cover and some plans are tailored to the oldies who might be contemplating a hip replacement or a bypass. But, more refinement is needed. I have heard of young women taking out young cover but not being covered for a pregnancy. The health insurance giants are happy to take her money but fail to cover her for the single event for which she is most likely to need cover for. 

A friend of mine who has health insurance, and took out travel insurance, broke her arm ice skating overseas.  Yes, everything was covered by her travel insurance but, once she set foot back on home soil, she went to get a second opinion from her GP. What do you know, that was not covered under her normal health insurance because she did it in absence of her home country.  Did they offer her a reimbursement for the months she spent overseas and not used their insurance?  Of course not! 

I encourage all of you to ditch your loyalty! It is costing you a fortune. the health insurance companies rely on us paying our premiums by automatic bank transfer and simply forgetting about it. it is a case of come in sucker as your premiums just keep going up. Yet, they reward people who opt in and out of health insurance, 1month free, no waiting periods for certain procedures and yet, I have never been given 1 month free, EVER, for being a loyal customer year in year out. So this year I will change companies, get my 1 month free and even negotiate my premiums, then next year I will change again.

Yes, dear reader this is a heated debate and we hope that others may buy into this and give their opinions on the matter.

So folks write in give your thoughts. Stand up and question some of the rip offs that we pay for.

Cheers

Bitchescoz

Contact: luke65mcbride@gmail.com
 

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