[Wildence]

hi all

I am just wondering whether anyone managed to claim anything back?

I am on one of the top hospital and extra cover.

when i called BUPA a couple of months ago, was told that if prenatal service is done by a registered midwife ill get some money back.

However my claim has been rejected and i didn't really get a good answer as to why. i was told that its possible that Medicare might be able to cover some of the costs. i do not think this is correct, however i will call Medicare tomorrow and see what they say.

[feliz6]

I am not with Buda burping did get a small amount back from my health fund for birth and parenting class. I had to make sure I provided the midwives registration number.v

[Wildence]

thanks for your reply.

i did provide them with the midwives reg number

quick question, should i wait till we attend the workshops (in Jan) or should i continue trying to get some $$ back now?

[little lion]

Hi wildence my antenatal classes at my private hospital were free under bupa. I had postnatal midwife visits (thru my Ob) and this midwife said her postnatal visits would be partly claim able thru Medicare next year. Not sure on the details though.

[economist99]

Def not medicare - maybe through your extras or hospital cover - probably extras - depends on yr level of cover.

We have the cheapest Bupa plan - young singles - and got some back.

[feliz6]

I'm sure with my insurance you can't make a claim until you have received the service. Maybe that's the problem.

[Koobie83]

And this is why I hate private health - where's the benefit? When you need it, they don't cover it yet they are quick to bump up your premiums every 3 months.

I had a shocker of a run in with my old private health insurer where they refused to commit to helping my husband in an emergency situation in hospital (he missed knicking his tendon and artery in his foot by maybe a few mm's and was bleeding everywhere) because we hadn't been insured with them for 12 months (we were previously insured with NIB) they had to assess our claim to make sure it wasn't 'pre-existing'. We had doctors everywhere on the phone saying "His foot hasn't been bleeding for 12 months... this is an emergency" and we had paid annually too so there wasn't a problem with unpaid premium. They also wanted us to pay up front for a private surgeon and then wait to see whether they will pay us. The private hospital said this could cost us $8000.00 up front and we may never see the cash. Turns out that once we canned the idea of going private (even though we had insurance for it) and went public we saw a doctor within the hour who had one look at it, confirmed the tendon and artery wasn't knicked, but it was very close to it, stitched him up and we went home.

It was an absolute joke. So threw it in and am going public. I couldn't fault them so far. My midwife is fantastic.

[Melissam12]

There are medicare benefits for education with an eligible midwife. Education is recognised by Medicare as part of what midwives do in consultation with women.

[hanz33]

I just called Bupa yesterday about this and they said I would be able to claim a portion back.

[Wildence]

thanks all for replies.

funny enough we did get some money back from BUPA, but yet when i was on the phone with them last time, they were telling me to check with medicare.

and yesterday got a letter in the mail saying this is your refund