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| Private Health Insurance Tips |  You have to know that you are able to save hundreds of your dollars by shopping around. You simply have to be cautious.
Private health insurance offeres you:
- admittance to a private hospitals that are more luxurious than a public hospitals
- wider choice of physicians than you would get if you were cured in the public system
- shorter waiting times for some kinds of elective surgery
You have to consider the government incentives. For example, lifetime health cover imposes a fine to people who take out health insurance later in life with higher premiums. If you obtain health insurance after your 31st birthday you pay a 2% extra charge a year up to a maximum extra charge of 70%.
Which policy you should choose
Health funds booklets can be hard to understand and to compare. But following tips will help you to save money on your premium:
- Buy a product with an excess (this is an amount of money a member consents to pay for a hospital stay before benefits are payable).
- Buy a policy where you pay a co-payment if you go into hospital.
- Buy a policy that leave out cure for some conditions.
- Buy a product that only covers you as a private patient in a public hospital.
You should check out how many times the excess applies per calendar year. In some cases it applies once, in others three times. Generally it is better to save money by choosing a policy with a high excess rather than choosing a policy that leaves out cure for some conditions.
Some health insurance plans set limits on some treatments (which means that the fund will only meet part of the costs) and may leave out coverage for some treatments altogether.
Treatments those are commonly limited and excluded:
- Cosmetic surgery
- Cataract surgery
- Assisted reproduction
- Major heart surgery
- Knee, hip and other joint replacements
- Midwifery and birth related care
- Psychiatric care
- Rehabilitation
Thus you have to remember, if you want to get coverage for any of these things, make sure you check with your health fund to make sure they are not left out or limited in any way.
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