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Elaine Li
27-04-2012, 05:24 PM
Health Care Insurance

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Hi

Can any one share with me what is the practice of the Health Care Insurance in Sydney ?

in Hong Kong, Since we don't have a government plan, that's why we will normally buy one included outpatient, hospitalisation, Dental from the private insurer and coverage our employees.

What is the normal practice in Sydney ?

my staff asked some body check, preventive check up..etc ?

Please share with me some of your experience, thanks

Neb-Maat-Re
29-04-2012, 03:35 PM
Australia has universal medical coverage that includes hospital through a Government scheme called Medicare, funded by an income tax levy. It doesn't cover dental or other ancillary services. Health checks may be covered by Medicare - a couple of GPs have suggested to me there is some sort of funded health check for men over 45, for example.

However, many Australians also take out private health insurance in order to cover the cost of better quality and/or faster treatment, and to cover dental and ancillary services. It is normally a voluntary choice. Some companies may choose to offer this as part of a remuneration package but I suggest that would be rare. Overseas residents working in Australia are not covered by Medicare and are required to take out special insurance.

Each State and Territory has it's own worker's compensation scheme (often called WorkCover). These schemes often encourage health checks for workers, and may provide funding for them. WorkCover in Victoria have been promoting them vigorously, NSW may be the same.

Cottoneyes
30-04-2012, 08:28 AM
Some companies may choose to offer this as part of a remuneration package but I suggest that would be rare.

It should be noted that if the offered as part of the remuneration package, it would likely be subject to Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), hence why it is very rare. You may want to look at your offerings being set up and the FBT on them as well, I don't recall seeing any threads as yet on this and you may not be aware of it.

Tiger
01-05-2012, 11:40 AM
As indicated by another contributor, providing health insurance benefits to employees would incur Fringe Benefits Tax for the company. Whilst it is commonly part of employment benefits in the USA, that is not the case in Australia.
What you could do to encourage your employees to take up private health insurance is to talk to some of the health insurance providers (HCF, NIB, Medibank etc) and get them to offer your employees a discounted premium with no waiting periods. This may encourage both new membership and, if waiting periods waived, then current members of other funds might be convinced to swap. The funds want members and if they think they will get a bunch of members out of your company they may be happy to offer 8-10% discount on premiums.
The range of premium costs varies as health insurance is very personal to the individual so considerations like whether you are single, married, with kids who need teeth work, ancillary benefits like chiropractic, physio, optical etc. and of course the type of hosptial cover (private room, etc) the individual wants.
The premiums would be paid by the employee via direct debit from their bank accounts. These days the funds are not interested in receiving premiums via payroll deductions as they don't want to wait for their money.
Without private health insurance, people depend on the public hospital system which can mean long delays if eg surgery is required. Whilst doctors visits and some prescription drugs are available at reduced costs via Medicare (increasingly many doctors no longer bulk bill so we do have to pay a fee to see a doctor). There is no government provided dental cover but you can have this covered via private health insurance although not fully - there are yearly limits and the amount refunded is never what you have to pay the dentist!

Moz
01-05-2012, 03:44 PM
Whilst it is commonly part of employment benefits in the USA, that is not the case in Australia.


There was once a time when big US companies operating in Australia provided their own company funded health insurance as part of the salary package for all of their employees in Australia, as they did in other parts of the world.

One could not opt out of it - if you wanted to work for them your salary package included the health cover.

From what I can remember, in the mid 1990s our Government at the time outlawed this practice of self insurance by the companies and said that the companies must use an Australian health insurer (such as Medibank Private), if they wanted to provide health insurance for their staff.

The result of this was that most of these large employers no longer made Health Insurance a mandatory component of their salary package and employees could take the extra cash instead. Of course many of them took the extra cash and became completely reliant on the public health system.

Very poor policy in my view.

Brad@Triscope
02-05-2012, 06:32 AM
Hi Elaine

Depending on which state you're in, preventative health checks may be subsidized by the government. Otherwise, there are many other options you can look at for workplace health checks such as on-site or online / employer subsidized. You may even be able to leverage off your insurance provider.

My company, Triscope, are experts in workplace health care so I'm happy to help out. Email me at brad@triscope.com.au.

Regarding health care insurance, as mentioned earlier, it is subject to FBT tax. The national health care system is called "Medicare" which provides accessible health care to all Australians, often provided free of charge. It is financed largely from taxes.

I hope this helps.

shmark
10-07-2012, 12:24 AM
Have you tried out Health.com.au (http://www.health.com.au/) ?? I heard they are very good.

They let you choose your own providers which I know is know is not the case for most Australian health insurance company's. You also get a large variety of packages with them, so you can compare what your insurance will hold, and pay what your comfortable with. You should have a look and tell me what you think after.

Tiger
11-07-2012, 09:05 AM
Just clarifying one thing. Medicare also covers eye examinations - free to patient every two years.