[luluandjake]

Hi,
I currently have health insurance as I have had major dental work (oral surgery) and need glasses/contacts. I have also used my health insurance for physio and massage. I am thinking about TTC in the next couple of months and wondering if it's worthwhile financially if I upgrade my PHI.
I am in a relationship and we will be getting married in next year or so, but each have our own insurance. Obviously we will join together but I am wondering if that's worth doing now or waiting till after we are married.
So I guess my questions are- update my personal PHI now and then partner and I join together after married or- join now together and add pregnancy cover. - leave my PHI as is and go public when or if we get pregnant.
Thanks for your help!

[Hootabelles]

I would leave your level of health insurance as it is..if you are happy with it.
When I spoke to my HI they said that as long as I changed to family cover prior to the baby being born then we would be covered. You will be paying a much higher premium just to be a family with you and your partner, and unless you have children then don't bother. I changed my cover at 5 months pregnant to ensure I was covered in case baby came early...as advised by my HI, to cover all medical costs.
Good luck

[~Nic~]

Agree with the PP about the family cover... it normally works out cheaper to have two single covers instead of a family cover before kids come along, but once kids are born, it makes more sense to change then - no point in paying for something you don't need for the next couple of years. In terms of waiting periods for bub's, check with your fund - the fund I am with gives whatever waiting periods the parents have served to the baby - no need to upgrade before baby's born as if I have served my waiting period as far as they are concerned my baby has as well. Only catch is bub needs to be added on from DOB, but that can be done and backdated anytime within 2 months from DOB (ie, I can ring up a month or so after bub is born, add them on to the cover from the DOB and just have to pay the difference in the cost). That's different from fund to fund though, so double check.

Don't forget the 12 month wait on obstetrics - in most cases 12 months from date of upgrade to date of admission, so you need to upgrade at least 3 months before bub is born. A little more (say 6 months) is preferable as if bub turns up early and waiting period hasn't been served, you may not be covered at all. Again, that varies from fund to fund, so double check.

Good luck!

[qak]

AFAIK Family cover is the same price as two Singles policies, it doesn't matter if you have n kids or six.

You might as well join now and ensure you have the required level of cover for birth. If you are with different funds you can add one person to your policy fairly easily, you need to get a printout from the fund you are leaving.

[futureself]

Only you can decide if you want the option of going private for pregnancy or not. Really examine your local hospital options, see which hospital and level of care you identify with as it's different per area. Also, remember there will still be out of pocket costs if choosing private of, on average, $5000. You are obviously aware that there is a waiting period of 12 months for the majority of Funds in regards to covering you for pregnancy & birth so good you're thinking about it ahead of time.
As for us, I wanted the option when the time came to go private so DH and I upgraded our cover to 'family' before TTC. We investigated a single person (me) upgrading from basic to being covered for pregnancy and then DH keeping his own single person basic cover but it made no sense for us financially when adding it all up. So, for our fund (NIB) it made sense as 'family cover' was what a) covered for pregnancy b) Is the same price for a couple or a couple with 3 kids - we just add the baby when it arrives with no increase in premiums so really straight forward.

[luluandjake]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am looking into my local private and public hospitals now. A few friends have gone public and had no problems. So I guess I just need to decide what I want and go from there.
I do know about the 12 month waiting which is why I am thinking of it now.
I will also call my PHI and see what they recommend.

[Bacongirl]

Please check carefully what the 12 month obstetric waiting period covers. Some won't cover you at all if bubs is born before you finish the full 12 mths.

The upgrade to family cover to include bub is seperate to this and may have shorter waiting periods. They are not one and the same

[matt1972]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am looking into my local private and public hospitals now. A few friends have gone public and had no problems. So I guess I just need to decide what I want and go from there.
I do know about the 12 month waiting which is why I am thinking of it now.
I will also call my PHI and see what they recommend.

Make sure that you don't just check out the hospitals for the last part of the process. Decide what type of care you want over the full 9 month period and anything that might be required post birth.

[MrsLexiK]

Hi,
I currently have health insurance as I have had major dental work (oral surgery) and need glasses/contacts. I have also used my health insurance for physio and massage. I am thinking about TTC in the next couple of months and wondering if it's worthwhile financially if I upgrade my PHI.
I am in a relationship and we will be getting married in next year or so, but each have our own insurance. Obviously we will join together but I am wondering if that's worth doing now or waiting till after we are married.
So I guess my questions are- update my personal PHI now and then partner and I join together after married or- join now together and add pregnancy cover. - leave my PHI as is and go public when or if we get pregnant.
Thanks for your help!

Hi OP

Due to some issues I had top hospital cover (so cvrd for pregnancy) when I got married I had to take it on myself. I did the sums for me to be on top cover and DH to be just the basic cover and I was actually paying more then I would have if we were a family membership.

The local hospitals here are not fantastic (I think one of them is the highest for deaths and complications in the state) so we know we will be going private (just need to find a cheap OB that doesn't charge through the nose) my cover also pays for some of the costs for IVF (my old cover didn't so there is a waiting day period that I have to serve) and due to my issues it is not unlikely that we will need to at least consider going down the assisted concraception path. If though I had a lovely public hospital near me I probably wouldn't bother going private. It is really dependent upon your area and what you want out of it.