Do you have private health insurance?

We are sitting on the fence on this one as well - have had top private health cover and got out after two bad experiences. Our lovely private hospital closed its doors to maternity patients a day before our first baby was to be induced...nice. This was after continued enquiries on our behalf - and our OB - as we were concerned at the increasing numbers of repat patients and decreasing numbers of babies being born there. We ended up at the local public hospital at the last minute - with our private OB - and recieved wonderful care. It turns out as we had complications and it was over the weekend we would have been transferred there anyway. Our second child was due to be born after the huge increase in OB costs about six years ago and we were suddenly hit up for an extra $5000 on top of our insurance...we ended up back in the public system with a private OB again. Best of both worlds.

We are looking to insure again but will be going intermediate with public system but private specialists.

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Here here Bonnie. The best solution - now self funded or insurance??

 

There's no doubt always going to be examples of good and bad for either option.

At our stage of life, without insurance, we'd be significantly worse off. Our daughter was born 3.5 years ago. We had a private OB, enjoyed the best care, single room, fantastic attention, and great surroundings for birth of our daughter at Mater Private and if something went wrong we were in the same building as Mater Public where 'emergencies' are taken care of. We stayed (together, and the only extra cost for me was $10 for an evening meal) for 4 nights. While my wife enjoyed some sleep and pressed the buzzer for anything she needed, I watched TV and kept beer in the fridge, while being taught how to bathe and change our little one. A couple of years earlier our friend went public and was kicked out as soon as the umbilical cord was knotted (well, she was checked out the next day because they needed the bed).

Since then, we each spend $500-$1,000 per annum on dental or optical (covered), and realistically we've probably spent more in premiums than we've claimed (it is insurance after all, not an investment fund). But if my daughter had something major happen to her I am safe in the knowledge I can look after her without waiting to liquidate something.

Having seen the results affecting people I know relying on the public system, you'd have to be the world's greatest salesperson to convince me public, or self-funding (given the expertise and knowledge needed to even know who to call) is better than private health insurance. But I understand it's different strokes for different folks, and as long as your option works for you, that's all that matters, particularly if it still works for you when the proverbial hits the fan. I'd be really loathe to believe just because self-funding works out well for one person it would work well for anyone.