Where do I find the greatest value cheap health insurance for singles?
Look closely at the policies
Believe it or not, health insurance doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated or convoluted. We know the irony of a health fund saying that, but stay with us on this one. At Frank, we believe cheap health insurance for singles should be simple to understand and affordable. It should also allow you to choose the level of cover you require. This is pretty much why we exist. Becoming ill is stressful enough, and we know you want cheap health insurance for singles that can give you peace of mind and provide benefits to help your budget cope with unexpected health costs.
* The price shown is per week and applies to a {LIFESTAGE} living in VIC with a $500 excess. It excludes LHC loading and includes a Base Tier Government Rebate
| Extras services (when included on cover) |
|---|
| All extras benefits except as specified below. Waiting Period: 2 Months |
| Optical, home and domestic aids and medical aids. Waiting Period: 6 months |
| Major dental services (including full & partial dentures, orthodontics, crown & bridgework, endodontic services such as root canal, gold fillings, indirect restorations, surgical extractions of a tooth/teeth including wisdom teeth). Waiting Period: 12 Months |
| Health appliances including nebuliser pump, blood glucose monitor, pressure garments, sleep apnoea monitor, extremity pump, hearing aids, orthopaedic appliances (GMHBA approved), prostheses (GMHBA approved non-surgical), tens monitor, podiatry surgical procedures and orthotic appliances (foot). Waiting Period: 12 Months |
| Hospital services (when included on cover) |
|---|
| Accidents - bodily injuries resulting from accidents which occur after the date of joining GMHBA or upgrading to a higher cover. Waiting Period: No |
| Obstetrics and maternity. Waiting Period: 12 months |
| Pre-existing ailment, illness or condition (other than psychiatric, rehabilitation and palliative care). Waiting Period: 12 months |
| Any other benefit for hospital (or hospital substitution) treatment. Waiting Period: 2 months |
A pre-existing condition is one where signs or symptoms of your ailment, illness or condition, in the opinion of a medical practitioner appointed by GMHBA (not your own doctor), existed at any time during the six months preceding the day on which you purchased your hospital insurance or upgraded to a higher level of hospital cover and/or benefit entitlement.
A special waiting period applies to obtain benefits for hospital treatment for new members who have pre-existing conditions. The waiting period also applies to existing members who have recently upgraded their level of hospital cover. If the ailment, illness or condition is considered pre-existing:
New members
New members must wait 12 months for any hospital benefits (other than psychiatric, rehabilitation and palliative care).
Existing members (transferring or upgrading)
Members transferring/upgrading to a higher hospital cover must wait 12 months to get the higher hospital benefits (other than psychiatric, rehabilitation and palliative care).
Existing members (with at least 12 months membership)
Existing members with at least 12 months membership in total across their old and new cover are entitled to the lower benefits on their old cover.
During your first 24 months of cover - after the standard hospital waiting periods have been served – Best Hospital and Best Hospital (no pregnancy) covers have benefit limitations on selected services.
This means that the benefits payable on these services are limited to the minimum shared room rate under the Private Health Insurance Act for private hospital admissions during the 24 month benefit limitation period.
Once the waiting period and benefit limitation period has been served you will have access to the benefits applicable on your level of cover.
Silver Hospital cover provides the same single room coverage as Gold Hospital, but co-payments of $100 per day up to a maximum of $700 per admission apply. Co-payments are not the same as hospital excess. Please note: Some private hospitals only have single rooms and co-payments will apply.
Co-payments do not apply.
Policies for singles do not need to be expensive and having cheap cover does not have to mean you are missing out on a heap of treatments and services. When it comes to cheap health insurance for singles, value can mean different things to different people. Picking the cheapest policy you can find might not be the best value for money. The secret is to pick the best policy that is both right for you and for your back pocket. Look at both hospital and extras cover, ask yourself as many questions as you can about your health, your family’s health, your lifestyle and what you expect from cheap health insurance for singles. Look at things like waiting periods, excess, annual limits, benefits and out-of-pocket expenses, and mine the detail about what treatments are on offer. That will give you a good head start when it comes to finding value.
Discover the benefits of hospital cover
There is probably nothing worse when you need elective hospital treatment than having to wait in a long public queue. Our public hospital system is great, but having cheap health insurance for singles can help you avoid those long public waiting lists by being treated in a private hospital. Three of our hospital policies could cover you for treatments in a private hospital. Not surprisingly, different levels of policies can give you different levels of cover. Health funds, including us, can offer cheap health insurance for singles that only covers you for treatment in a public hospital, as a private patient. This can be an affordable cover, with low up-front premiums. Make sure when you are looking for cheap health insurance for singles you identify any medical needs that can be anticipated in the future and make sure these treatments are included in your plan. Things like maternity coverage is an obvious must-have if you are looking a starting a family, especially as there is usually a 12-month waiting period, and not all policies offer it. If you have a family history of heart disease, you may want to make sure your coverage includes heart related services. It is important to ask the right questions when looking at different policies and make sure that the policy suites your individual circumstances and budget.
Don’t forget extras
Extras can be a good place to start if you are looking to dip your toes into cheap health insurance for singles. Whatever happens, Medicare will cover you in a public hospital for emergencies or accidents, and if you are happy with being treated in the public hospital for any injuries or elective surgeries, then extras can give you that little bit, well, extra. Once again, when it comes to extras, cheap health insurance for singles doesn’t have to mean bad health insurance for singles. There are a lot of health cover options out there for single people, which means you have plenty of choice, but it can mean you also have to wade through a lot to find the one you need. As we mentioned before, we are here to make health cover simple, and we have two extras covers that do just that. Extras provides benefits for treatments and services outside of hospital, like dental, physio, chiro and optical. Our extras options come with two different levels of benefits – 50% and 80%. This can give you both simplicity and choice. Do your homework to understand what treatments are included in each of our extras policies, and what the waiting periods are on each of them.
Once you have done that, look at the annual limits and try and work out what treatments you think you will use most. From all this, you should be able to get a pretty good picture of which of our cheap health insurance for singles suits you best. Also, keep in mind the Federal Government wants as many young Australians as possible to take out private health insurance. They start by offering a rebate for people when they take out either extras or hospital cover. They have also created Lifetime Health Cover which results in a 2% penalty loading on top of your health insurance premium if you don’t take out hospital before you are 31.
So, to find the greatest value cheap health insurance for singles, you can start looking here.
We get that you don’t want to pay any more than you have to. And being on a budget won’t stop you from being covered at Frank. You can have the peace of mind without breaking the bank, and know that whatever life throws at you, you are doing your best to hit it out of the park.