The Moral of the Story

I can't believe my last post was back in November was back in November and it's now the the end of March!  How time flies when you're having fun!  Apologies to my loyal followers and I shall attempt to bring things up to date without going on for too long and boring you silly!

So to pick up where I left off, my broadband was up and running by the time I got home at the weekend and after 4.5 months in my new apartment, I was finally connected to the online world again!

Marching into December and summer, it seemed that every spare minute was filled with people to see and things to do, particularly because some of my friends were leaving Australia for good, whilst others were heading away on holidays.  One of the biggest shocks came when one planning the latter (a holiday), ended up having to pack up and sell everything in less than 7 days when she found out her company had failed to transfer her visa correctly (from a de facto spouse to an independent one) and that she'd therefore been working in Australia illegally.  As she's one of the most law-abiding citizens I know, she was mortified and terrified in equal measures.  The company concerned very quickly washed their hands of the whole issue and terminated her contract immediately - no apology or willingness to own up to their part in the whole fiasco and discuss the options with the Department of Immigration.  She therefore had no choice but to leave as quickly as possible and to accept the automatic 3 year ban that is dished out to "illegal immigrants" without a visa.  The moral of this story is never trust a company to do what they say they will and if it relates to something that will affect your life, take control of the situation and make sure it happens how you want it to.

So December turned into a somewhat unsettling month.  It's very strange when you find a lot of your new-found friends leaving your new-found country and it makes you feel like you're having to start all over again... the ever-revolving hamster wheel of expat life.  I think this is a particular issue with Sydney as it seems to be a very transient city with a lot of people arriving, staying for a while and leaving again.  Or maybe it's just that I'm only meeting the transient people and need to start finding better ways to meet those who are staying around!!  As we headed into the last week before Christmas, I was thanking my fairy godmother that my Mum was visiting for Christmas or I would have been hard-pushed not to jump on the next flight home to the UK - and at that point in time, it really did feel like it was home.  With today's theme being the moral of the story then, if you decide to emigrate, wherever in the world you're going to or from, don't underestimate how quickly you can be plunged into the depths of depression by things that other people do, which in your own country you wouldn't blink an eye at.  I've had numerous friends go off travelling, move abroad, etc from the UK and I've wished them well and we've kept in touch from afar.  In fact most of my friends in the UK lived a long distance away from me and I saw them infrequently... they're still a long distance away from me and I'll still see them infrequently, but somehow not being in the same country makes a massive difference.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Finishing Touches, with a number of things still outstanding to get done, I've taken to writing a list and knocking them off one at a time.  The latest is private health insurance.  When you arrive permanently in Australia (ie. on some kind of permanent resident visa), you have a year to take out private health insurance after which, if you haven't, you will be charged the Lifetime Healthcare Loading when you do take it out.  This is an additional loading you'll pay on top of your health insurance premium and is a government incentive scheme to get people to take out medical insurance early on in their life and maintain it rather than leaving it until they become old and crumbly, because as we all know, it's the young, healthy people who rarely use their insurance that are paying for all the old crumblies to have their hips and knees replaced!  For people born in Australia (or who arrive here before the age of 30), they have until their 31st birthday to take out and maintain a health insurance policy providing hospital cover to avoid the LHL.  With the months slipping by so quickly, I've realised I don't have much longer left to sort something out as I need to be enrolled within a policy by 9th April 2014.

There are a myriad of insurance schemes to choose from here, from the biggies (BUPA, Medibank - currently government owned, but probably being sold off and HCF), to the small, often area-specific, co-operative type funds.  Prices vary wildly both for the same levels of cover between different funds and for different levels of cover... and trying to work out what you're actually covered for is another nest of vipers!  There are two parts to health insurance cover - hospital and extras.  Hospital is what it says - care in hospital as an admitted patient (often called an inpatient over here).  Don't get confused - that does still mean treatment for daycase surgery in a hospital.  The only thing it won't include is treatment in doctors rooms (which may or may not be located in a hospital!) for what in the UK would be referred to as outpatient procedures.  Extras are those ancillary services which aren't covered by Medicare, but which you tend to use the most - dental check-ups, glasses & contact lenses, physiotherapy, etc.  Most people tend to go for a very basic hospital cover just to avoid the lifetime healthcare loading and then combine that with decent Extras cover. This was where I was headed as I'm fit and healthy and the only thing I'm likely to need hospital cover for is unexpected sporting injuries!  You can of course increase your level of hospital cover as you get older and potentially require more treatment, but be aware that this normally leaves you with waiting periods before you can be treated and if you've already had something diagnosed before increasing your cover, you can find you're not covered because it's considered a pre-existing condition!  So don't go to your doctor about pain in your hip, find you need a hip replacement then up your cover expecting to have surgery a couple of weeks later.... unless you're looking to foot the $25,000 bill that'll be coming your way!

There's a variety of ways in which insurers show you what you're covered for within your Extras policy.  Normally each area has monetary limits (eg. $400 per year for minor dental) and this is often combined with a limit on the number of visits (eg. 2 dental check-ups with scale and polish each year), but there are now policies coming on the market (AHM by Medibank Private is the first) where they give you an overall Extras limit (eg. $1,000 per year) which you can spend how you want on the items covered.  Policies will either specify that they cover you for a % back on what you pay or a specific value back.  Neither of these are easy to weigh up before you purchase.  Eg. BUPA specifies 70% back but 70% of what?  If you go to a potential dentist, they'll ask you who your health insurer is before they'll give you a price!  Then they won't give you a price based on cover with different insurers for you to compare because everyone is very cagey about the prices they have negotiated with each of the funds!  On other funds (eg. HCF) they'll tell you that you'll get between $30 & $60 back for a dental check-up, but as you can't find out what the dentist is going to charge you, how do you know what you'll be paying and in which instance will HCF pay you $30 versus $60?!!  

The moral of this story?  Don't spend a long time trying to make a decision on health insurers... health costs money in this country and whichever one you choose you'll end up paying out a fair bit for what, in the UK, we consider to be basic stuff.  Pick one, run with it, see what you think and if you don't like it, you can always change... but at least by then you'll have a real reason (or two!) for not wanting to use that health fund!!!