I compared my health insurance… And actually got a better deal
Please note members: The Seniors Discount Club has a commercial relationship with Health Insurance Comparison, this means we may be compensated if you compare your health insurance with them.


Having a think about your health insurance? Why not compare your options today? Image source: Shutterstock.​

I think I speak on the behalf of many members when I say, I am a bit sceptical about comparison companies. I actually don’t know why? I’ve never compared anything in my life, whether that be my health insurance bill, my electricity and gas bills, my life insurance bills, you name it, I’ve just never questioned the price of what I’m paying for.

Why? I guess I’ve always been intimidated. I’m a pretty savvy person when it comes to money, I mean there’s a reason I started the Seniors Discount Club with Jon but I don’t know why I’m happy to shop around for the cheapest groceries or household goods, but not to the same for my ‘bigger life purchases.’

So anyway, I took a leap and decided to compare my health insurance, mainly for all of you, because we have been partnered with Health Insurance Comparison for quite a few months now and I wanted to know two things: As someone with a few health issues under my belt, I wanted to know my cover was going to look after me. Health insurance is an emotional purchase for me, as someone who has been in hospital a fair bit, I wouldn’t be okay if I got “stuffed around” (if you know what I mean). And two, if I was going to be ‘looked after’ by my cover, was there another health insurer out there doing a better job? Charging a cheaper rate? Well, here’s what I found.

Before the comparison
Before I compared my Health Cover with Health Insurance Comparison I was with NIB. My cover was ‘Mid Hospital - Silver Plus & Core and Wellbeing Extras’ and I paid $199.94 a month. Now a lot of you may look at that $199.94 number and think “Maddie?! That’s way too much” and I completely agree with you, but with my many health issues - including epilepsy, a rare migraine condition and just having had a parathyroidectomy at the end of last year (just to name a few!) - I really need high level, quality health cover. Which is honestly what I thought I had.

Now I’m not saying that you have to have this level of cover to save, of course, the experience is going to be different for everyone, but I just want to be really honest and open with you all about what I had before comparing and what I have now.

Throughout the comparison process
I was really nervous at the start of the phone call. I didn’t know what to expect, I was worried about not getting the right cover, I didn’t want the experience to be ‘salesy’ and I really wanted to speak to someone who I felt cared, who understood why I was so emotional about this purchase and my goodness members, that’s exactly what I got. The lovely young man I spoke to’s name was Eli Boroda. He lives and works in Melbourne (an Aussie!) and couldn’t have been more patient and understanding with me on the phone. He even joked and said that I could look him up on Youtube if I wanted too! Here he is:

​

After making me laugh, he ran me through how the entire comparison process works, including saying that I didn’t have to switch if I didn’t want to. He explained the government rebate I am entitled to (this will be different for everyone, so it’s best you speak to an expert to understand your entitlement). We spoke about my second biggest reason for comparing my health insurance (second to figuring out whether this was something you members would benefit from or not) which was paying an out of pocket fee of $3,000 for my surgery last year, on top of my $250 hospital excess and a bunch of other fees. He explained that the amount of out of pocket fees does come down to the surgeon, but that NIB is also known for not being ‘the best’ when it comes to hospital cover.

I told him the surgeon who did the surgeries name, and he was even able to see that 48 HCF customers went to the same surgeon and got the exact same surgery as me and 100% of them had no out of pocket costs, except for their hospital excess of $250. But I paid $3,000 out of pocket? HCF could offer me the exact same level of hospital cover, at a cheaper price with better gap fees. Oh and the best part? I wouldn’t have to experience ANY waiting periods, because I was staying on the same level of cover. Eli said that waiting periods are not applied when you switch to the same or a lower level of cover. I was blown away (to say the very least).

Eli then talked me through the extras cover. Now I said to him, I was thinking about dropping to a lower level of extras cover, because the only thing I ever use is my dental cover (I have one crown) so that I felt like I didn’t really need all of the other extras - like optical, physio, podiatry etc. He explained that with dental cover, usually all the other extras come with it anyway and that dropping my extras cover wouldn’t serve my dental needs, instead he said he could do me one better.

Eli explained that with HCF I could actually go to one of their selected dentists twice a year for a check up and pay absolutely nothing! Yep, 100% free. He said I could of course still go to my dentist for my checkups and pay a small out of pocket fee if I wanted to, but if I wanted to save on my dental, that’s how I could do it. What I liked about this option is for my six-monthly clean I could just see a HCF dentist, but for any crown related maintenance, I could see my normal dentist. A win, win if you ask me. And he didn’t even stop there. Eli went on to explain that with HCF there is a loyalty program, that in the next 12 months I’ll get $600 back on my dental (which is identical to what I was getting with NIB), but after 12 months they upgrade that $600 to $800, and upgrade it again 12 months after that, and again, 12 months after that! So basically, I’d be paying less for more value.

Not only that, but I get to keep my optical, physio, podiatry etc. all by paying less and just moving to a different insurer. He also explained that with HCF if and when I need glasses (which honestly is probably right now) that HCF pay the full $250 which means I could get my glasses for free (unless I wanted Gucci frames, he joked), whereas if I stuck with NIB they would only pay 60% of that $250 towards my glasses… it felt like a no brainer? I didn’t have to serve any waiting periods on my Extras Cover as well, except for podiatry which is a two month waiting period, because although I was moving to the same level of cover, for a cheaper price, my podiatry was actually being upgraded…

Eli even made sure that my health insurance bill would be directly debited from my account the day after I am paid every month, so I never had to stress about whether or not I had the money to pay for my health insurance every month.

After the comparison
To say I was impressed is actually an understatement. Eli officially moved me from my NIB cover of ‘Mid Hospital - Silver Plus & Core and Wellbeing Extras’ which I was paying $199.94 a month for to ‘HCF Hospital Standard Silver Plus + HCF Vital Extras’ which I’m now paying $187.80 a month for. That’s a saving of $12.14 a month, for an identical level of hospital cover and an upgrade in extras cover. Sure, maybe $12.14 a month doesn’t sound ‘amazing’ but that’s $145.68 of savings a year for me, which is roughly 36 more coffees I can have and you lot know how much I love a cuppa.

Now, I must say that obviously, not everyone will have the same health cover as me. Not everyone should leave NIB and move to HCF. This comparison experience was tailored to my specific needs, so you should do one that is tailored to YOUR specific needs. I cannot recommend Eli Boroda enough, and he said if anyone wanted to contact him specifically that he would be more than happy for me to share his email address with you, so if you do want to speak to Eli, email me here and I will send you his email address. If not, I am sure everyone in the Health Insurance Comparison offices - which are located in both Melbourne and Brissy - will be just as lovely and helpful as Eli was.

To compare your health insurance and hopefully save AND get better value health cover, you can fill out this form and either Eli, or one of his team mates will get in touch with you.

You can use this link to fill out the form - https://seniorsdiscountclub.com.au/...um=forum&utm_campaign=maddie-personal-article.

 

[JayKay]

Wow.....to be informed is huge, knowledge gives you power to make evaluations and come up with wise decisions.
Great step taken, Maddie.
The surgeon ripped you off....why isn't there a fair fee for all?
How does the surgeon choose who he is going to rip off?
Sounds as though you won't be ripped off again...let's hope others will benefit too.

 

[Maddison Dwyer]

Wow.....to be informed is huge, knowledge gives you power to make evaluations and come up with wise decisions.
Great step taken, Maddie.
The surgeon ripped you off....why isn't there a fair fee for all?
How does the surgeon choose who he is going to rip off?
Sounds as though you won't be ripped off again...let's hope others will benefit too.

@JayKay Eli explained to me that the fault is actually on the health insurers side. So he explained that basically HCF would have covered that $3K gap that I ended up paying because NIB didn't, it wasn't the surgeon's fault, I just happened to be with the wrong provider and with not-so-great cover... I'm very relieved now that I have switched, like you have said, knowledge is most certainly power and I had no idea I wasn't getting the best bang for my buck. Like I said in the article, health insurance is quite an emotional purchase for me with my health, so I was really scared to switch, but I'm so glad I did!

 

[JayKay]

Ah, I misjudged the Surgeon, sorry.
I understand now.....the Insurance company was avoiding making you a payment to which you were entitled. Scum bags.
Huge weight lifted from your shoulders....helping others along the way.
MANY years ago (say 50), I had 4 wisdom teeth removed in hospital.
When I went to claim my rebate, the lady at the counter kindly whispered to me if I asked the hospital to amend the account to separate teeth bring removed, I'd get the lot back, instead of as a bulk item.
The item number was important.
I was really touched at her consideration.
Wouldn't occur these days.

 

[Kaybee]

I compared my health insurance… And actually got a better deal
Please note members: The Seniors Discount Club has a commercial relationship with Health Insurance Comparison, this means we may be compensated if you compare your health insurance with them.

View attachment 2266
Having a think about your health insurance? Why not compare your options today? Image source: Shutterstock.​

I think I speak on the behalf of many members when I say, I am a bit sceptical about comparison companies. I actually don’t know why? I’ve never compared anything in my life, whether that be my health insurance bill, my electricity and gas bills, my life insurance bills, you name it, I’ve just never questioned the price of what I’m paying for.

Why? I guess I’ve always been intimidated. I’m a pretty savvy person when it comes to money, I mean there’s a reason I started the Seniors Discount Club with Jon but I don’t know why I’m happy to shop around for the cheapest groceries or household goods, but not to the same for my ‘bigger life purchases.’

So anyway, I took a leap and decided to compare my health insurance, mainly for all of you, because we have been partnered with Health Insurance Comparison for quite a few months now and I wanted to know two things: As someone with a few health issues under my belt, I wanted to know my cover was going to look after me. Health insurance is an emotional purchase for me, as someone who has been in hospital a fair bit, I wouldn’t be okay if I got “stuffed around” (if you know what I mean). And two, if I was going to be ‘looked after’ by my cover, was there another health insurer out there doing a better job? Charging a cheaper rate? Well, here’s what I found.

Before the comparison
Before I compared my Health Cover with Health Insurance Comparison I was with NIB. My cover was ‘Mid Hospital - Silver Plus & Core and Wellbeing Extras’ and I paid $199.94 a month. Now a lot of you may look at that $199.94 number and think “Maddie?! That’s way too much” and I completely agree with you, but with my many health issues - including epilepsy, a rare migraine condition and just having had a parathyroidectomy at the end of last year (just to name a few!) - I really need high level, quality health cover. Which is honestly what I thought I had.

Now I’m not saying that you have to have this level of cover to save, of course, the experience is going to be different for everyone, but I just want to be really honest and open with you all about what I had before comparing and what I have now.

Throughout the comparison process
I was really nervous at the start of the phone call. I didn’t know what to expect, I was worried about not getting the right cover, I didn’t want the experience to be ‘salesy’ and I really wanted to speak to someone who I felt cared, who understood why I was so emotional about this purchase and my goodness members, that’s exactly what I got. The lovely young man I spoke to’s name was Eli Boroda. He lives and works in Melbourne (an Aussie!) and couldn’t have been more patient and understanding with me on the phone. He even joked and said that I could look him up on Youtube if I wanted too! Here he is:

​

After making me laugh, he ran me through how the entire comparison process works, including saying that I didn’t have to switch if I didn’t want to. He explained the government rebate I am entitled to (this will be different for everyone, so it’s best you speak to an expert to understand your entitlement). We spoke about my second biggest reason for comparing my health insurance (second to figuring out whether this was something you members would benefit from or not) which was paying an out of pocket fee of $3,000 for my surgery last year, on top of my $250 hospital excess and a bunch of other fees. He explained that the amount of out of pocket fees does come down to the surgeon, but that NIB is also known for not being ‘the best’ when it comes to hospital cover.

I told him the surgeon who did the surgeries name, and he was even able to see that 48 HCF customers went to the same surgeon and got the exact same surgery as me and 100% of them had no out of pocket costs, except for their hospital excess of $250. But I paid $3,000 out of pocket? HCF could offer me the exact same level of hospital cover, at a cheaper price with better gap fees. Oh and the best part? I wouldn’t have to experience ANY waiting periods, because I was staying on the same level of cover. Eli said that waiting periods are not applied when you switch to the same or a lower level of cover. I was blown away (to say the very least).

Eli then talked me through the extras cover. Now I said to him, I was thinking about dropping to a lower level of extras cover, because the only thing I ever use is my dental cover (I have one crown) so that I felt like I didn’t really need all of the other extras - like optical, physio, podiatry etc. He explained that with dental cover, usually all the other extras come with it anyway and that dropping my extras cover wouldn’t serve my dental needs, instead he said he could do me one better.

Eli explained that with HCF I could actually go to one of their selected dentists twice a year for a check up and pay absolutely nothing! Yep, 100% free. He said I could of course still go to my dentist for my checkups and pay a small out of pocket fee if I wanted to, but if I wanted to save on my dental, that’s how I could do it. What I liked about this option is for my six-monthly clean I could just see a HCF dentist, but for any crown related maintenance, I could see my normal dentist. A win, win if you ask me. And he didn’t even stop there. Eli went on to explain that with HCF there is a loyalty program, that in the next 12 months I’ll get $600 back on my dental (which is identical to what I was getting with NIB), but after 12 months they upgrade that $600 to $800, and upgrade it again 12 months after that, and again, 12 months after that! So basically, I’d be paying less for more value.

Not only that, but I get to keep my optical, physio, podiatry etc. all by paying less and just moving to a different insurer. He also explained that with HCF if and when I need glasses (which honestly is probably right now) that HCF pay the full $250 which means I could get my glasses for free (unless I wanted Gucci frames, he joked), whereas if I stuck with NIB they would only pay 60% of that $250 towards my glasses… it felt like a no brainer? I didn’t have to serve any waiting periods on my Extras Cover as well, except for podiatry which is a two month waiting period, because although I was moving to the same level of cover, for a cheaper price, my podiatry was actually being upgraded…

Eli even made sure that my health insurance bill would be directly debited from my account the day after I am paid every month, so I never had to stress about whether or not I had the money to pay for my health insurance every month.

After the comparison
To say I was impressed is actually an understatement. Eli officially moved me from my NIB cover of ‘Mid Hospital - Silver Plus & Core and Wellbeing Extras’ which I was paying $199.94 a month for to ‘HCF Hospital Standard Silver Plus + HCF Vital Extras’ which I’m now paying $187.80 a month for. That’s a saving of $12.14 a month, for an identical level of hospital cover and an upgrade in extras cover. Sure, maybe $12.14 a month doesn’t sound ‘amazing’ but that’s $145.68 of savings a year for me, which is roughly 36 more coffees I can have and you lot know how much I love a cuppa.

Now, I must say that obviously, not everyone will have the same health cover as me. Not everyone should leave NIB and move to HCF. This comparison experience was tailored to my specific needs, so you should do one that is tailored to YOUR specific needs. I cannot recommend Eli Boroda enough, and he said if anyone wanted to contact him specifically that he would be more than happy for me to share his email address with you, so if you do want to speak to Eli, email me here and I will send you his email address. If not, I am sure everyone in the Health Insurance Comparison offices - which are located in both Melbourne and Brissy - will be just as lovely and helpful as Eli was.

To compare your health insurance and hopefully save AND get better value health cover, you can fill out this form and either Eli, or one of his team mates will get in touch with you.

You can use this link to fill out the form - https://seniorsdiscountclub.com.au/...um=forum&utm_campaign=maddie-personal-article.

I also did the health fund comparison and I have saved$20 per month with HCF. VERY HAPPY.

 

[Juliana]

I used to be with HCF which is a great health insurer but, I did my own health insurance comparisons, and switched to a Members Own Fund which is Hunter Insurance. I initially went through the process with Health Insurance Comparison but had a few bad experiences with them. One, when I was promised a discount which I never received and then, when I thought I was being courteous when I phoned them to say that I was not going with their recommendation, I was asked rather abruptly why I phoned them back. So, now I just do my own research which I will do again this month.

 

[QuiteAchiver]

I HAVE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WHEN I CHANGED MY HEALTH INSURANCE TO NIB I AM WAITING TO SEE THE RESULTS OF MY ENQUIRE AS TO WHY MY REQUEST WAS NOT CARRIED OUT SHOCK!!!

 

[Maddison Dwyer]

@QuiteAchiver who did you compare with? Did you use Compare Club? Or someone else? If you used Compare Club, I can put you in touch with one of their experts and he should be able to help you! However, if you did switch with someone else I don't have a contact but I can do some research to see if there is anything online that can help!

 

[Suzanne rose]

I've been with nib, hcf and medibank and have now been with AHM for around 8 years.

Whenever I have spoken to a compare website they have all told me the same they couldn't give me better than what I getting with ahm.
I never called them , they called me

 

[Maddison Dwyer]

That's awesome @Suzanne rose my partner is with AHM and I am with HCF. We are planning on merging our plans but are shopping around, but I have heard nothing but good things about AHM!