Thought I might share my thoughts on private health cover.
To keep the back story short, in a nutshell all my molars (back teeth - x8) need to be crowned because over some years they've been worn down from grinding my teeth when weight lifting and from stress etc. I go to a pretty up market dentist, as a rule of thumb they charge at least 1.5x what a normal dentist would charge, but closer to 2x generally, in return they have the latest technology and blah blah etc. Each crown is made from gold and fully envelopes the tooth and costs around $2,000 each. Obviously this starts to add up quickly, I've already got 3 with 5 more to go. So I looked into getting private health cover to help offset the cost.
I didn't really shop around or go through iSelect as I'd pretty much decided to go with Medibank Private as my family had always been with them previously and a quick perusal of what they offer seemed to work out quite well for me, and that's what I want to share.
I'm a single (as in "not married") male, 25yo, healthy, the top level of cover with top level of extras cover costs me just under $3,000 a year going off the generic quote.
From that $3,000 I can subtract the Medicare rebate straight up at tax time which is about $900, so that brings the yearly premium down to $2,100.
I also happen to work for a not-for-profit organisation which gives me an 8% discount, which works out to be about $200, so that brings my yearly premium down to around $1,900.
The reason I went with the top level of cover = top level of "extras cover" is because they pay out $1,600/yr towards "major dental" which goes towards my crowns for example. So I plan to have 1 crown down a year. So subtract that from my premium and that brings it down to around $300 already.
I also get adjustments done in my back from a chiro 1-2 times a month, and like to go to the physio for deep-tissue massages 1-2 times a month, and the top level of extras cover pays out $750 and $1,000 a year respectively towards both of these.
So with just that, the membership has already more than paid for itself + there's still a truckload more stuff I can claim, for example cost towards a new pair of othotics etc etc.
On top of this, off the top of my head I think when your medical expenses >$2,500 you can start claiming them against your income tax also (Kez180 can confirm).
Most importantly of all though, I've got the best cover available in case of emergency/accident and I wind up in hospital or something horrific etc.
So in light of the above, I don't see why more people don't take out private health cover. I often hear colleagues and friends say stuff like "I don't need it" / "It won't happen to me" etc.. but stuff always happens and why sit in a public hospital waiting room when you can have a private suite?
P.s. If you do want to sign up to Medibank Private and get a $50 Gift Card when you do, simply present this Reference Number - "2313565"