Private health insurance can give you peace of mind by covering your family. With private insurance, it will be easy for you to deal with health problems. People prefer private insurance for several reasons, such as:

• Save money in the long-run
• Get the advantage of lifetime cover
• Have mental peace
• Avoid a long waiting list of public hospitals

If you are planning to get private insurance, iSelect can be a good choice for you. To Know more about iSelect private insurances, check their official website.

Benefits of Private Health Insurance

Without any doubt, private health insurance has plenty of benefits. For instance, you can decrease your expenditure and get a private room for your treatment without any trouble. A good plan allows you to choose your surgeon or doctor. Here are some highlights of private insurance:

• Avoid complications and a long waiting list of public hospitals
• Choose a private hospital or private room for your treatment
• Money back facility is available for non-Medicare health services
• Choose your surgeon or physician
• Get dental cover
• Claim rebate of private insurance
• Avoid Levy Surcharge of Medicare
• Get a reliable cover for Lifetime Health

Waiting List of Public Hospitals

Private insurance can help you for elective surgeries because of priority patient order and waiting lists. Elective surgery means a treatment that is not immediately required. It may include cataract removal, gallstone removal or joint replacement. The tonsillectomy is vital for people with debilitating tonsillitis. They need elective surgery each year under the definition of a public system.

As per AIHW (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare), a public hospital has to deal with several surgeries each year. Their waiting list for elective surgeries can be more than one year. The waiting period for cardiothoracic surgery can be over 16 days. On the other hand, ophthalmology surgery needs 196 days. The waiting period for private hospitals is substantially smaller. With private insurance, you can get the advantage of locked-in date.

Rebate of Private Health Insurance

PHIR (private health insurance rebate) applies to health insurance in Australia. It is available to claim through your insurance provider directly. It means your premium already has a portion for the government rebate. You can claim it on your tax return after each financial year and increase your refund. Carefully check the tier of rebate because a wrong tier can increase your expense.

Medicare Levy Surcharge

Purpose of Levy Surcharge was to encourage wealthy people to take private insurance and decrease the pressure of public health systems. A single person with an income of over $90,000/annum and a couple with $180,000/annum can get a surcharge of more than 1% of their income. The number may rise to 1.25% to 1.5% as per your income bracket.

Private Insurance vs. Public Insurance

In Australia, Medicare schemes cover the public health system. Medicare may subsidies some treatments, but private insurance can decrease waiting list times in hospitals. For specialist treatments like advanced dental, optometry and psychotherapy, you will need private health insurance.