5 Reasons You Should Have Health Insurance Cover

There are plenty of little reasons you should have health insurance – you’re planning a family, your son has just taken up hockey or you’ve just taken up surfing as a new hobby. Well here are the five big reasons you should be covered by health insurance:

1 – Treatment Benefits

When you have private health insurance your coverage allows you to choose the surgeon or doctor you want to complete a procedure, and choose the hospital. You could also experience shorter waiting periods for elective procedures, which are only classed as elective because they’re not life-threatening, but are often quite urgent.

2 – Savings

In most cases you can be reimbursed for 100% of your hospital costs relating to room or accommodation charges, theatre fees, the labour ward, intensive care, coronary care, day surgery and medication supplied through an agreement with the hospital. You should always contact your health insurance company before being admitted to check on your coverage levels, but having health insurance cover will be cheaper in the long run if you compare it to the full costs of medical procedures.

3 – Extras

Health insurance cover isn’t just about more affordable hospitalisation, but can also help you afford those services you may otherwise have to go without. These extras could include dental, optical, physiotherapy, naturopathy, massage and many others

4 – Government Charges

If you are single and have a taxable income over $80,000 or are a couple or family with a taxable income of over $160,000 (indexed each year) the government will charge you the Medicare Levy Surcharge of 1% if you don’t have qualifying private hospital insurance.

And you could also be paying more for your private health insurance if you wait until after your 31^st birthday, when the government will add a 2% surcharge to your insurance premium every year, up to a maximum surcharge of 70%.

5 – Peace of Mind

We all have enough to worry about without dreading becoming sick or getting injured, or wondering how we’re going to look after our families if they need treatment. The investment in health insurance cover gives you the benefit of worry free medical treatments for you and your family, greater control over how you maintain your family’s health, as well as access to those extras which make difficult times easier such as a private hospital room on some levels of cover.

This article has been written by Allan, who is a regular blog contributor specialising in private health insurance