When retirement age rolls around, most Australians start to consider lowering their expenses. This could include downsizing their homes, reducing the amount of cars they own – and reducing or cancelling their private health insurance. This is especially true for pensioners who have lived a healthy lifestyle and seldom needed to take advantage of their insurance.
That said, reaching your senior years may be the time you need your private health insurance the most. Getting older leaves you more susceptible to a range of health issues, and while a healthy diet and exercise will certainly help reduce your risk, there’s no guarantees. Health insurance could provide you invaluable peace of mind.
Whether for an injury, an illness or another health ailment, typically the older you are, the more likely you’ll need medical treatment. While you’ll have access to the public healthcare system, this could lead to potentially substantial waiting times for treatment depending on the severity of your health concern and where you are located.
If you chose to attend a private hospital without Private Health Insurance, Medicare will still cover 75% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee for the treatment you’re receiving. However, you’d need to foot the other 25%, along with a myriad of other potential charges depending on the length of your stay and the type of treatment you’re receiving.
There are other benefits to maintaining your health insurance as a pensioner as well. If you do require medical treatment, you can skip the waiting lists of the public healthcare system and choose which doctor you want to see. Depending on your level of cover, you’ll also have access to a variety of preventative treatment options.
Best of all, Australians over the age of 65 receive a higher rebate percentage from the government than their younger counterparts, and it increases again once you turn 70.