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The article discusses the rising cost of private health insurance in Australia, with an average industry-wide price increase of 3.03%. However, some policyholders are paying significantly more than the average increase, especially for Gold policies. The article offers recommendations for the best value hospital and extras policies for different categories of individuals, such as healthy singles and couples, families, and seniors. It also provides advice on how to avoid overpaying for health insurance and includes tables comparing different policies and their premiums, as well as information on annual limits and waiting periods. This information can be helpful for library patrons researching private health insurance options, including seniors who are looking for the best hospital cover and extras. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the benefits and drawbacks of having Basic-level private health insurance in Australia. It explains that having private health insurance can help individuals avoid paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge, an additional tax for those who don't have private hospital cover. However, Basic-level policies provide very little coverage and are not recommended for health cover. The article also provides information on different levels of health cover, claiming the rebate at tax time, and the Lifetime Health Cover loading for individuals over the age of 31. It concludes by listing the cheapest Basic policies in each state and their premiums. [Extracted from the article]

BUYING A STANDALONE POLICY If Ava has lower health cover needs, she could take out a standalone Medibank Bronze Everyday ($750 excess) and Essential Extras policy instead of joining the family policy. Given that a single policy usually costs about 50% of a family policy, it's smart to keep your kids on your family policy while there's no additional cost. Cost of family policy: $7979* Cost of extended family policy (including Ava): $10,010* Additional cost to include Ava: $2031 per year (without the health insurance rebate). [Extracted from the article]

The biggest health funds have some bad value policies, though we do rate highly some of their other policies in our online health insurance comparison. And it's no wonder, considering about 8 in 10 health insurance policies belong to the five biggest health funds - Bupa, HBF, HCF, Medibank and NIB. All three funds let you keep the discount if you switch cover or if you currently hold a discount with another fund and switch to them. [Extracted from the article]

This article from Choice magazine features a Q&A format where readers ask questions and experts provide answers. The first question addresses a significant increase in car insurance premiums, and the expert explains that rising costs of car repairs and a "loyalty penalty" are contributing factors. The second question asks about the caffeine levels in decaf teas and coffees, as well as dark and milk chocolate. The nutrition expert provides general information on caffeine content in these products. The third question concerns the safety and effectiveness of using the self-cleaning feature on ovens. The household expert confirms that pyrolytic cleaning is safe and effective but advises keeping the kitchen well-ventilated during the process. The article also includes a section called "CHOICE Help," where a member's issue with a travel insurance claim is addressed by an insurance expert, who advises the member to challenge the insurer's decision and seek assistance from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). [Extracted from the article]

So if you suspect your pet could have a preexisting condition and want to take out pet insurance for the first time or switch insurers, ask lots of questions and get the answers in writing. The biggest problem with pet insurance was that you were locked into your current policy if your pet developed a health condition. But insurers will now cover new customers for their pets' pre-existing conditions if those conditions are fully cured. [Extracted from the article]

A gap is simply the difference between what Medicare and your private health fund will pay towards your treatment, and what your doctor or hospital charges. Best health funds for gap cover We rate health funds on the percentage of services for which the member had no or a known (up to $500) gap cover. In looking to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses, you should take two basic steps: STEP 1: FIND A SURGEON WHO CHARGES REASONABLE FEES Call your health fund and ask for a list of their no-gap doctors and agreement hospitals. [Extracted from the article]

As always, health insurance premiums will go up on 1 April, so now is the perfect opportunity to review your health cover and lock in a cheaper premium for the next 12 months. The average health insurance premium increase announced for this year is 2.92%, which is the lowest since 2001, but most funds have increased premiums from 3% up to 5.63%. Our tool shows the full premium before any rebate, so get a quote on your health fund's website and select "no rebate" for the right premium to compare. Health funds may also offer single parents lower premiums for hospital cover but not extras cover. [Extracted from the article]

Some health insurers offer their members rewards programs that let you earn points and rewards for meeting exercise goals and answering online questionnaires. Five percent discount on your health insurance premium (MyOwn, RACQ and GMHBA) We review health fund rewards programs offered by Medibank, Qantas (NIB), GMHBA, RACQ and MyOwn to see what they offer, and whether they're worth it. There's a good choice of rewards including benefits or discounts from your health insurance policy and gift cards from a small group of retailers. [Extracted from the article]

Of the big insurers, two have already increased their premiums - HBF by an average of 4.49% on 1 April and Medibank/AHM by an average of 2.96% on 1 June, but the other three are delaying their increase until later this year: NIB will delay its 2.72% premium increase until 1 September 2023 (this includes Qantas Health). Due to COVID-19 and the fact that many people haven't been able to make full use of their health insurance policies, most private health funds are delaying their price increases until later in the year. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the role of several hospital health insurance such as dental check-ups, glasses, physiotherapy and naturopathy in public hospitals. Topics discussed include treatment of private patient in a public hospital, covering blood tests, X-rays and ultrasounds performed outside hospitals; and pregnancy and birth-related services.

Basic hospital insurance policies offer the lowest tier of health cover at the lowest price point. If you earn over $90,000 (or $180,000 for couples and families) and decide you don't need health cover but want to avoid paying extra tax, a Basic policy may be an option for you. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers information on health insurance plans for pregnant women in Australia. Topics discussed include difference between pregnancy care provided by private and public hospitals such as cost, facilities and attendees; Medicare covering public patient bills in public hospitals while non-availability of out-of-hospital care cover in private insurance; strategies to reduce costs and choosing flexible pregnancy cover plans; and health insurance plans for newly born.

The article reports on Australians' health care expenditures. As of 2013, data showed that a fifth of Australians' health expenditures are out of pocket costs or expenses they pay for themselves. The Consumer Health Forum reveals that families spend an average of 500 Australian dollars a year on doctor's bills and 1,200 Australian dollars a year on medicines. Insurance companies have reported that a growing number of consumers are downgrading their insurance cover to cope with rising costs. INSETS: A lot for a little;EXTRA! EXTRA!.

Q Do private health insurance policies all cover the same item numbers if they are the same level (e.g. Bronze, Silver or Gold?) Or can there be a difference between the insurers - and if so, do I need to worry about the differences? A Health insurance expert Uta Mihm: Yes Gold, Silver and Bronze cover exactly the same services and item numbers for all insurers. The older you get the closer you get to the average life expectancy so the greater the risk for the insurer that they actually need to pay out your life insurance, therefore life insurance premiums become very expensive. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on restricted health funds that provide private health insurance to people in specific sectors including teachers, police and military in Australia. These funds benefit family members including parents, partner and children. Some of the funds mentioned are ACA Health Benefits Fund, CBHS Health Fund and Doctors' Health Fund.

The article offers information about several ethics of health insurance policies. Topics discussed include dental and annual check up limits are consider under extra services of the insurance; awareness about lifetime and annual limits of physiotherapy, natural therapies, and chiropractic; and talks about discount on several services by direct debit and according to annual premium.

Your ambulance cover options depend on where you live: Tasmania and Queensland: Ambulance trips are covered by state governments. Most health insurance policies cover emergency ambulance only, which means you may not be covered for: ambulance officers treating you "at the scene" if you don't need to get taken to hospital non-emergency transfer to hospital - for example, for ongoing treatment. Other restrictions can include: no more than one trip per person or two trips per family per year road ambulance cover only - evacuation by air or sea ambulance isn't covered. [Extracted from the article]

Choosing a health insurance policy with an excess means you pay an amount - say $500 or $750 - if you go to hospital, but you pay a lower monthly premium for your health cover. But where the excess really hurts is if you have day surgery, as the cost of surgery and therefore the benefit you get back might be at the lower end, and in some cases the excess might be higher than the benefit. You can find policies with excess waivers by using the CHOICE health insurance finder at choice.com.au/comparehealthinsurance. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents a comparison of restricted health funds for Australians as of October 2014 including Teacher Health, Defence Health and Commonwealth Bank of Australia group employees.

The article discusses the impact of restrictions in health insurance policies which can leave mental health patients without cover in Australia and offers tips for checking hospital cover policies for psychiatric cover. Topics discussed include health insurers' restriction and limitation cover for psychiatric care; views of psychiatrist Malcolm Hopwood on the need to transparency of cover provided by private health insurance policies; and the need to check cover policies for psychiatric cover.