Melbourne dad shares how to save $2400 on private health insurance a year
Always looking for ways to cut down on household costs, this Melbourne family saved thousands of dollars after fixing a common mistake.
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Melbourne-based dad Con Lazos, 47, and his partner – whose blended family mean they share seven kids aged between 5 and 14 – are always looking for ways to save on their household bills.
And, with one easy phone call and less than half an hour of their time they managed to shave a whopping $2400 a year off their private health insurance premiums.
The couple reviewed their private health insurance and, with some expert advice, discovered they were making some common mistakes with their cover – like paying for pregnancy, which they didn’t need.
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“We were on top hospital and extras on a family policy,” explains Mr Lazos. “They took out pregnancy because we’re done having kids and kept everything else the same.
“Once we did that, we condensed mine and my partner’s family policy into one. We figured out it was much cheaper to combine and even cheaper to get rid of things we weren’t using like the pregnancy cover.”
The Melbourne-based dad says he hadn’t realised just how much money he could save by reviewing his health insurance policy.
“No one had ever mentioned it to me before,” he says.
Mr Lazos, who is the director of a martial arts centre, says the family use their private health insurance mainly for the extras and view it as a family necessity.
“We get a lot of use out of osteo, chiro and dental extras in particular,” he explains.
“We hold health insurance for the peace of mind it brings us. To make sure we’re covered if anything should happen. Also, the freedom to choose our own doctor or hospital should we require treatment.”
A study commissioned by iSelect earlier this year revealed 42 per cent of policy holders admitted private health insurance is “expensive but worth it for the peace of mind”, with 40 per cent claiming the main reason they have private cover is to “reduce hospital wait times”.
iSelect spokeswoman Jessie Petterd said that although many Aussies have struggles financially in the past year, it’s also highlighted the importance of healthcare and private health insurance.
“The ongoing health crisis and pressure on the public system means the peace of mind that private cover provides is arguably more valuable than ever, so it’s not surprising there’s been a noticeable uplift in Aussies taking out private cover in the past year.”
According to the Australian Private Hospitals Association, membership of private health insurance went up by almost 60,000 additional members between January and March and that was on top of an increase of 34,800 members between October and December.
However, she also acknowledged that ongoing financial pressures due to the pandemic and the latest price increase might mean private cover is firmly on the chopping block for some families.
“We’d encourage any customers struggling to afford their premiums to ‘switch not ditch’ and explore other options before cancelling as the savings can be well worth it and many customers are in fact able to find a similar level of cover for a lower price with a different fund,” she explained.
Ditching your private health insurance could also mean paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge, an extra charge that could seriously impact your hip pocket when it comes to tax time, if you don’t have private health insurance.
Mr Lazos, who says the savings the family have made from reviewing their health insurance have gone “straight towards saving for our family home”, will now be reviewing his premiums every year.
“We’ll make a habit to review and see if there’s any savings to be made,” he says.
“My advice to anyone who’s hesitant to review their health insurance is just to make sure you double check your cover, do the math and work out what you no longer use,” he states.
“The savings are well worth it. I was so surprised and annoyed at myself that I hadn’t done it sooner. I wish I had.”
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