Lets talk about... Private Health Insurance.

[Beej1]

Do not get me started on this fucking rort...

Yeah I'm not exactly over the moon with my situation either, even though my OOP expense is hovering around $4.2K and thus lower than yours.

FWIW I find it helps slightly by thinking about the fact that if I was born and raised in most other of parts of this globe I'd be a lot worse off in general, let alone with regard receiving treatment like this, despite however fkd up and conservative I think our current govt is.

Whatever works hey?

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[pink poodle]

I've had shoulder surgery twice on the public purse and one of my ride buddies has also. Both of us were very pleased with every aspect of the experience. Service, time frames, outcome, after care...it was all great.

I've also had surgery on my face and paid the gap myself. This was a tiny gap and private health wouldn't have helped much at all.

 

[Haakon]

Yeah I'm not exactly over the moon with my situation either, even though my OOP expense is hovering around $4.2K and thus lower than yours.

FWIW I find it helps slightly by thinking about the fact that if I was born and raised in most other of parts of this globe I'd be a lot worse off in general, let alone with regard receiving treatment like this, despite however fkd up and conservative I think our current govt is.

Whatever works hey?

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Yeah could be a whole lot worse - we could be in the US...

 

[Beej1]

I've had shoulder surgery twice on the public purse and one of my ride buddies has also. Both of us were very pleased with every aspect of the experience. Service, time frames, outcome, after care...it was all great.

Was it elective, and did you have to wait long, just curiously? Or was it more of a "this needs fixing now" emergency situation?

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[droenn]

I don't have it. Seems its only worth it if you are having kids or really old. :noidea:

Fine to pay for dental and optical out of pocket, rather than monthly fees and gaps. So far.

 

[Haakon]

Mine wasn't considered urgent by the public system standards as I could still sort of function and go to work etc. Being off my head on high octane painkillers and generally being a mess from pain, sleep deprivation and opiate use didn't seem to count. I was told it would be 6 months.

So I had to front the cash...

 

[Calvin27]

I don't have it. Seems its only worth it if you are having kids or really old. :noidea:

Fine to pay for dental and optical out of pocket, rather than monthly fees and gaps. So far.

my dentist and physio both charge higher rates for PHI. I found this out because I always pay cash and finally bit the bullet for PHI due to tax reasons. Anyway what was a $120 clean and check turned out to be $400 clean and check and hey, guess what xrays are now standard for dental also. Whole system is an absolute scam.

 

[DMan]

I don't have it. Seems its only worth it if you are having kids or really old. :noidea:

Fine to pay for dental and optical out of pocket, rather than monthly fees and gaps. So far.

Gone the same way. It's the gaps that are the killer. Sadly, even if you have private health, unless you can afford all the gaps you're fucked anyway.

 

[pink poodle]

I don't have it. Seems its only worth it if you are having kids or really old. :noidea:

Fine to pay for dental and optical out of pocket, rather than monthly fees and gaps. So far.

I've had some costly dental work and again the gap involved meant the fees wouldn't have been worth it.

It seems to me a lot of people have private health as a result of fear about the uncertainty.

There are some instances where it does pay off. Free dental check ups, physiotherapy, chiropractic, and so on...well free chiro isn't helping anyone. Stay away from those with doctors.

Was it elective, and did you have to wait long, just curiously? Or was it more of a "this needs fixing now" emergency situation?

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For me it was emergency (fucked if I know how the categorisation works, I had fractured stuff) so I just had to wait a few days until the real emergency stuff was clear. For my friend it was elective. His waiting list time wasn't that long and then he got in early!

 

[casnell]

I've had some costly dental work and again the gap involved meant the fees wouldn't have been worth it.

It seems to me a lot of people have private health as a result of fear about the uncertainty.

There are some instances where it does pay off. Free dental check ups, physiotherapy, chiropractic, and so on...well free chiro isn't helping anyone. Stay away from those with doctors.



For me it was emergency (fucked if I know how the categorisation works, I had fractured stuff) so I just had to wait a few days until the real emergency stuff was clear. For my friend it was elective. His waiting list time wasn't that long and then he got in early!

Dental is almost never worth it.

 

[pharmaboy]

Yeah could be a whole lot worse - we could be in the US...

Actually, you could be anywhere in the world and get worse. For the dollars and quality of treatment, Australia has the best health care on the globe. Don't believe any of the bull pedalled by political parties when they aren't in power - Australias health system is the envy of everyone else's.

Australians however absolutely win on the ability to whinge scale, and no matter how good something is, we aren't ever happy.

Edit - excluding dental, though at least we fluridate

 

[pink poodle]

Actually, you could be anywhere in the world and get worse. For the dollars and quality of treatment, Australia has the best health care on the globe. Don't believe any of the bull pedalled by political parties when they aren't in power - Australias health system is the envy of everyone else's.

Australians however absolutely win on the ability to whinge scale, and no matter how good something is, we aren't ever happy.

Edit - excluding dental, though at least we fluridate

Fluoride man...it's just there to subdue the populace and make us give up our guns!

You raise a good point about the global esteem in which our system is held. It was recently highlighted when Don Trump was questioned regarding his undoing of Obamacare while sitting with Mal Turnedbull. When I watched (the well balanced and highly regarded journalist) Mike Moore's film Sick, I remember wondering why Australia received so little mention.

 

[Haakon]

Actually, you could be anywhere in the world and get worse. For the dollars and quality of treatment, Australia has the best health care on the globe. Don't believe any of the bull pedalled by political parties when they aren't in power - Australias health system is the envy of everyone else's.

Australians however absolutely win on the ability to whinge scale, and no matter how good something is, we aren't ever happy.

Edit - excluding dental, though at least we fluridate

Thats not necessarily in debate - the problem is that it was better and has been made worse whilst costing more. All for the benefit of a private sector profit margin.

Health systems are like public transport and other essential services - the myth of private sector efficiencies is just that, a myth. You cant provide a service at a lower cost and still make a buck.

 

[Shinigami]

PHI isn't worth it, and its continued rent seeking push for profits is likely to lead us down to a health system like americas.

 

[pharmaboy]

Thats not necessarily in debate - the problem is that it was better and has been made worse whilst costing more. All for the benefit of a private sector profit margin.

Health systems are like public transport and other essential services - the myth of private sector efficiencies is just that, a myth. You cant provide a service at a lower cost and still make a buck.

Health costs are going up the world over, if you were sick you'd truly appreciate the advances, but they come at a cost.

If you think that the system used to be better, you are simply wrong, no other way to put it HAakon. And it's got nothing to do with public versus private, that's a political discusssion.

For a small microcosm if a typical change in health, is most posters here probably broke and arm or leg when they were young - they just set it in emergency, plastered you up and sent you away. Now, most of those fractures would involve surgery and fixation with metal bits - that costs money, but it also means better proveable health outcomes. Less disability, less recuperation etc. cancers are an area now where hundreds of thousands of dollars are thrown at curing or extending a single patients life when 20 years ago, it was , I'm sorry, you have 6 months.

Edit - I'll give you that some parts are worse due to cost cutting, but generally it's the nice to haves that are axed first while life saving stuff continues on.
ED's are the most popular with tabloids, not because they have become underfunded, but because they are full of people with children with a cough, or numpty mountain bikers who need a stitch but won't go to a GP and pay for it.

 

[Beej1]

I don't have it. Seems its only worth it if you are having kids or really old.

Well ... for a regular pregnancy with no complications, public is perfectly fine from my experience. We were told by our obstetrician that anything complicated about the pregnancy and most private birthing clinics will refer you to a public hospital. If an emergency develops at a private one, they send you to public anyway. That's what we were told.

As for the kid once it's out - if it's healthy and happy, then PHI will probably be a waste of money. Besides, as soon as anything remotely serious occurs, you'll move heaven and earth to get your kid in front of an emergency doctor sooner than humanly possible.

But ... that's insurance. It's the profit system in place for 'if' something goes awry. Whoever said it above ... pp I think ... it's the fear of uncertainty. Any qualified health professional can tell you the odds are astronomical, but if you've been struck by lightning once when it comes to kids, you really don't hear those words.

 

[Haakon]

Health costs are going up the world over, if you were sick you'd truly appreciate the advances, but they come at a cost.

If you think that the system used to be better, you are simply wrong, no other way to put it HAakon. And it's got nothing to do with public versus private, that's a political discusssion.

For a small microcosm if a typical change in health, is most posters here probably broke and arm or leg when they were young - they just set it in emergency, plastered you up and sent you away. Now, most of those fractures would involve surgery and fixation with metal bits - that costs money, but it also means better proveable health outcomes. Less disability, less recuperation etc. cancers are an area now where hundreds of thousands of dollars are thrown at curing or extending a single patients life when 20 years ago, it was , I'm sorry, you have 6 months.

Edit - I'll give you that some parts are worse due to cost cutting, but generally it's the nice to haves that are axed first while life saving stuff continues on.
ED's are the most popular with tabloids, not because they have become underfunded, but because they are full of people with children with a cough, or numpty mountain bikers who need a stitch but won't go to a GP and pay for it.

Yes, I of course agree the technology and methods and drugs etc etc have improved out of sight and you are way less likely to die now from xyz then you were 10 or 20 years ago. Thats a given I think.

What I mean is the financial impost on your average Joe Blow with a chronic case of taking the corner at Stromlo too fast and smashing himself up. If its an emergency job he is still good, even with Canberra's hospitals (which I used once for an ED visit - bloody great service, really thorough and professional). But if Joe Blow needs something later for a chronic ailment then all the funds being diverted to the private system are not making it better for the public system as has been claimed nor is the overall "system" going to help any quicker than it otherwise could or not cost Joe Blow a small fortune.

There is a LOT of money going to private sector profits - I cant see how thats not money that could be spent on providing the actual service?

 

[link1896]

Yeah could be a whole lot worse - we could be in the US...

My last round of pathology would have been 6k USD a friend over there in the medical profession tells me after I showed her my pathology order.

As fucked as things are, still best in the world.

 

[pharmaboy]

Yes, I of course agree the technology and methods and drugs etc etc have improved out of sight and you are way less likely to die now from xyz then you were 10 or 20 years ago. Thats a given I think.

What I mean is the financial impost on your average Joe Blow with a chronic case of taking the corner at Stromlo too fast and smashing himself up. If its an emergency job he is still good, even with Canberra's hospitals (which I used once for an ED visit - bloody great service, really thorough and professional). But if Joe Blow needs something later for a chronic ailment then all the funds being diverted to the private system are not making it better for the public system as has been claimed nor is the overall "system" going to help any quicker than it otherwise could or not cost Joe Blow a small fortune.

There is a LOT of money going to private sector profits - I cant see how thats not money that could be spent on providing the actual service?

Private is growing, the question is whether it's at a cost to the public system. All I know, is a bunch of people can afford better and are prepared to pay. With public there s always a cost benefit analysis. Eg if you break your hand and you are a manual labour person who is self employed, you are more likely to get the operation that saves 4 weeks of recovery time than me, who is corporate employed, and does t need my hands to work. Now in Australia, I have the choice to say fuck that, I want to ride my bike 4 weeks earlier and not take a shit load of sick leave and am prepared to pay $4k for that better level of healthcare.

So , does that cost the public system?

Another example - the surgeon I use (hypothetically)makes around $500k, he does 2 days public, 3 days private, he would only be paid 1/5th income for those 2 days. In my experience the vast majority of specialists do this sort of balance. They work the public system because that's just what you do, you train others, you do trauma etc - so is the private subsidising the public in that situation?

It's very difficult to get fired in the public system. Is it a 2 tiered system? - of course, but the free system is still incredibly good.

If you hate profits, use a Ramsey hospital - Paul gave pretty much his entire estate over to philanthropathy so most of those profits go to good.

 

[Haakon]

Private is growing, the question is whether it's at a cost to the public system. All I know, is a bunch of people can afford better and are prepared to pay. With public there s always a cost benefit analysis. Eg if you break your hand and you are a manual labour person who is self employed, you are more likely to get the operation that saves 4 weeks of recovery time than me, who is corporate employed, and does t need my hands to work. Now in Australia, I have the choice to say fuck that, I want to ride my bike 4 weeks earlier and not take a shit load of sick leave and am prepared to pay $4k for that better level of healthcare.

So , does that cost the public system?

I am inclined to say yes, but happy to be convinced otherwise. There is a lot of public funding going into the private system, be it tax breaks or direct subsidies. Cant help but think that both you and the trade could be fixed up in a reasonable time frame in the public system if all that cash was directed into the public system instead of buying a corporate jet.