Mastering health insurance: how to get the most out of your cover

At a time when everyday costs continue soar, it makes sense to look for ways to save. Unsubscribing from some of our many, many streaming subscriptions. Taking the train rather than catching an Uber. Meal prepping and eating at home. These are all ways to put more money back in our budget.

But what about private health insurance? If we’re lucky enough to be fit and healthy, it can sometimes feel like an extra expense. Beyond the basics of hospital cover, however, private health insurance offers a range of benefits that can make a big difference to our health and Real Wellbeing—it’s just a matter of making the most of it.

We spoke to Debbie Stewart, Senior Manager of Product at Australian Unity, to discover the unexpected bonuses of health insurance and her top tips to unlock your cover’s full potential.

A sense of control

When Debbie was in her early 20s, she received a shock diagnosis: she had a congenital heart disease and needed surgery.

“I was asked if I had private health insurance, and was told that if I didn’t, I’d be put on a public waiting list,” she recalls. “But because my mum’s policy still covered me, I was able to book the surgery within the next two or three months.”

Even though the surgery wasn’t urgent, this gave Debbie peace of mind and a greater sense of control.

“Once you find out you have something going on, the last thing you want is to wait around for treatment,” she says. “By having that option to go through the private system, I could go and have the procedure, I had my own room, I had all of the care that I needed, and I was able to recover really quickly.”

It’s something that can make a big difference in life’s unexpected moments—indeed, according to Private Healthcare Australia, two in three elective surgeries and 57 percent of all joint repairs are funded by private health insurance.

Financial savings for high-income earners

Without health insurance, people earning above $97,000 as individuals, or $194,000 as families, may end up paying an extra 1–1.5 percent of their income to the Medicare Levy Surcharge.

“To put that into dollar amounts, if you were a single person earning $155,000, you’d be paying an additional $2,325 a year,” says Debbie. “Whereas many of the lower covers—like a really great Bronze product with good extras—would be closer to $2,000. That means you’re saving $250 straight off the bat.”

That makes health cover a smart move, especially when you factor in additional savings from using your extras cover.

Incentives to take better care of yourself

Hospital and extras cover provides rebates on a whole range of preventative healthcare services not covered by Medicare—including a few things you might not know about. These services can help you keep your health on track and catch issues before they become bigger problems.

“Having private health insurance encourages you to look after yourself,” says Debbie. “Depending on your cover, you can access no-gap dental, get 100 percent back on optical up to a yearly limit, and claim for things like physiotherapy, myotherapy and even mental health support.”

It seems that people are making good use of these services, with 55 percent of all hospital admissions for mental health care and half of all dental services claimed through a health fund.

Nationwide ambulance cover

Did you know Medicare doesn’t cover ambulance services, and that there are different fees and services all over the country?

“Ambulance cover is something you don’t think about until you need it,” says Debbie. “But the last thing you want when you’re in an emergency is to worry about how much an ambulance will cost.”

With an Australian Unity health insurance policy, you don’t have to, since all policies come with national ambulance cover.

How to make sure you’re getting maximum bang for your buck

To get the most out of your health insurance, Debbie suggests looking closely at your extras cover to see if there are any services you might be missing out on.

“Maybe you’ve never heard words like ‘audiology’, ‘orthotics’ or ‘podiatry’ before, or only have a vague idea of what they mean,” she says. “Becoming familiar with every product in your policy will show you if there are any benefits you’re under-utilising.”

Regularly reviewing your cover to make sure it matches your healthcare needs will also help you maximise your health insurance and ensure you’re getting the best support possible.

“Really think about what you might want to use on a regular basis, like remedial massage or chiro, for example,” advises Debbie. “And then try to balance that out with some things that might be more unexpected, or that you think you might need in the future.”

If that sounds confusing or complicated, why not reach out to someone at Australian Unity for help?

“We always encourage people to give us a call and do a review of their cover to make sure that it’s still right for them,” says Debbie. “We’ve found that the best way to navigate whether or not you've got the best cover is to speak to somebody. They can help determine your needs are and match it to the product that's best for you.”