[indy's guys]

I have read a couple of threads on private health. We are with HBF and our costs are high so we are revisiting other options. I am aware that cheapest isn't always best, but also that you can pay more than you need to. I am currently printing cover tables from various funds to compare costs and benefits.

One issue for me is that a lot of funds are eastern states based, and am wondering how many WA providers are likely to be registered with them. Clearly HBF would be the one with most providers being local, does anyone have accurate information on which other funds have a good number of WA providers registered with them?

Thank you for your recommendations. :-)

[~kerry~]

We are with HIF which is WA based. We get optical, dental and 1 or 2 others, and pay about $80-90 a month. No hosp cover tho
Cant fault their customer service either, whenever we have an enquiry thry always answer within 24hrs (mon-fri)

[wintergirl]

I'm in Perth and we are with BUPA, they are Eastern States based but have good coverage here. If you go onto their website you can look under find a provider. I have never had an issue finding a provider through them. We have 2nd from top hospital cover and top essentials cover (so quite high) and ours is $200 a month. I looked at other options in Jan and found BUPA to still be the best for us, I think it was about $50 cheaper a month the HBF for compatible cover.

[SeaPrincess]

We're with GMHBA. They don't have any registered providers - as long as someone is a member of the relevant professional body, they pay. We apparently had a bigger gap for DH's neurosurgeon than if we were with HBF, but that's hardly a regular occurrence. Optical and dental benefits are better, and when we changed over, our family premium was over $50/month lower than HBF. Oh, and when I had DD, the hospital were having a dispute with HBF, so the day she was born, there were only 3 maternity patients, and DD was the only baby. They also have a reward system, so you get extra benefits for each year of membership - I haven't actually paid for my glasses at all for years, even though they always go over the official limit.

ETA, if you ever need to have medical treatment interstate for some reason, a less restrictive fund is beneficial.

This post has been edited by SeaPrincess: 19/01/2013, 12:22 PM

[indy's guys]

Thanks for the replies, I am looking into the suggested funds and comparing :-)

[Jaffacakes]

We are with Australian Unity for hospital cover (who are based in Vic I think) and have not had a problem with them. We are with HBF for ancillary cover.

One of my jobs for this year (once our last baby is born in May) is to review our cover and see if it is the best for us. I have this site bookmarked for when I do this: http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ This is the government site.

Good luck, it is so confusing isn't it?

[mad madam mim]

We just signed up to Medibank, we compared them to a variety of other health funds and found that for what we needed cover for they were the best (we only have extras). Don't forget when you sign up you can haggle with them, get the price lowered, add in extras

[Ella'n'alex]

we're with medibank for hospital and extras, they seem to be pretty up front with what you do and don't get. We haven't had any dramas with them, and the cover seems pretty good. My mum recently spent two weeks in a private hospital and only paid $130 for the drugs dispensed when she left.

You can adjust you premium depending on excess and co-payments, which is, again, pretty straightforward.

I had DS in a private with medibank - I freaked out a bit when I got a bill for the assisting surgeon for my ceasar, but when i opened it, it was only $32.00.

[HGL]

I've been with Medibank Private for years and found them cheaper and they pay higher benefits and higher limits than HBF (according to the comparison I did on privatehealth.gov.au) Their call centre is in Australia (I assume, or else they have excellent Aussie accents) and every time I've gone into a office, they are so lovely and helpful.
I recently reviewed our health insurance and my husband was with HBF so they were the two funds I compared. What concerned me with HBF was their co-payment fees on hospital stays on some plans. You have to pay an excess of $200 per admission plus $45 per day (max $270) for a private room. Having to find $470 would be a struggle at times particularly if you're pregnant after alot of other costs.

[rosie28]

I'm now with BUPA after doing quite a bit of research last year. I found them the best in terms of what you get back - Medibank used to pay $25 of my physio and BUPA pay $55, and the level of cover is comparable. They've also been very easy to deal with.