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A Healthy Insurance · She's On The Money

0:00
Speaker 1: She's on the Money. She's on the Money. Hello, and
0:15
Speaker 1: welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast for Millennials
0:17
Speaker 1: who want Financial Freedom on April first this year, Like
0:22
Speaker 1: every year, health insurance premiums went up and a few
0:25
Speaker 1: changes took place that may impact you. So what are
0:29
Speaker 1: these changes, what do they mean? And is health insurance
0:33
Speaker 1: actually important or can our money be better spent elsewhere?
0:37
Speaker 1: My name is Georgia King, and joining me today as
0:41
Speaker 1: always is financial advisor Victoria divine Vi. We have spoken
0:46
Speaker 1: about health insurance and the private versus the public system
0:50
Speaker 1: before on the podcast. Can you explain why we are
0:53
Speaker 1: doing another episode on it today?
0:54
Speaker 2: Of course I can. I feel like there's been a
0:56
Speaker 2: lot of confusion in our community around our intentions when
0:59
Speaker 2: it comes to private and public health, and our intentions
1:02
Speaker 2: are to be incredibly clear about the differences, not to
1:06
Speaker 2: have a judgment sway on either. So you and I
1:08
Speaker 2: we don't actually care if you have public or private
1:11
Speaker 2: health insurance or whatever way you go. All I want
1:14
Speaker 2: is for you to be educated on the decision you're making,
1:17
Speaker 2: so that if push comes to shove and something happens
1:20
Speaker 2: to you, you're in a position where you go yeah,
1:23
Speaker 2: that was the decision I made. I was educated, not
1:25
Speaker 2: oh my god, I didn't know, or I should have
1:26
Speaker 2: fixed this, or you know, something could have been better.
1:29
Speaker 2: But as a base level g our public system is incredible.
1:33
Speaker 2: It is something so special, and you know, after the
1:36
Speaker 2: federal budget came out and we have so much more
1:38
Speaker 2: funding as well, it's only going to get better. I've
1:41
Speaker 2: been getting DM after DM on Instagram just about how
1:44
Speaker 2: great it is and the feedback from that pod that
1:46
Speaker 2: we dropped, and it's honestly so special. Someone else DMed
1:51
Speaker 2: me the other day and said, hey, V, in response
1:53
Speaker 2: to your federal budget and mental health facilities and increased
1:56
Speaker 2: allocation of funds to mental health. If it wasn't for
1:59
Speaker 2: this allocation, my current hospital wouldn't have been able to
2:02
Speaker 2: start opening up Victoria's first women's only mental health facility.
2:07
Speaker 2: I think people forget how much private health systems rely
2:09
Speaker 2: on public funding as well. So many people think that
2:12
Speaker 2: the Royal Women's Hospital provides mental health services for women,
2:15
Speaker 2: but they don't. They only cater for postpartum but the
2:19
Speaker 2: Hopetown Women's Hospital in Elsterwick. So that's here in Victoria
2:22
Speaker 2: for those of you wondering where that is will be
2:24
Speaker 2: a generalized private health care service with a lot of
2:27
Speaker 2: federal and state funding to cater to both public and
2:30
Speaker 2: private patients. So when this budget came out and the
2:33
Speaker 2: mental health budget had a hefty amount, it made the
2:36
Speaker 2: public system very very happy, but it equally benefited the private.
2:40
Speaker 2: So I think it's really important to remember that these
2:42
Speaker 2: things are actually really intertwined, and we are so lucky
2:45
Speaker 2: to live in a country that prioritizes one our mental health,
2:49
Speaker 2: because mental health still isn't prioritized internationally. In fact, it's
2:52
Speaker 2: not even recognized as a health issue internationally yet. And
2:56
Speaker 2: in addition to that, knowing that you know, if you
2:58
Speaker 2: or I got injured Georgia or in an accident, we
3:01
Speaker 2: could walk into emergency and actually get seen and not
3:04
Speaker 2: having been financially impacted. After the feedback we got from
3:08
Speaker 2: especially our maternity episode, we are not saying that public
3:12
Speaker 2: is bad. We just want to highlight why some people
3:15
Speaker 2: pick private, and even internally in our She's on the
3:18
Speaker 2: Money team, we've had this discussion before. Some of us
3:20
Speaker 2: have private healthcare, some of us have public health care,
3:23
Speaker 2: and we just don't mind either way. It's what suits
3:26
Speaker 2: our values and what suits our needs, and there are
3:29
Speaker 2: really valid reasons why some people genuinely feel like they
3:32
Speaker 2: need private health insurance. But to have a baby in Australia,
3:36
Speaker 2: to do all of the normal stuff, you absolutely don't
3:39
Speaker 2: need it. It's just a luxury, and I think that
3:42
Speaker 2: we need to see it as that. But in saying that, gee,
3:44
Speaker 2: we were talking as well. One there are a number
3:47
Speaker 2: of changes which we should get into, and two there
3:50
Speaker 2: are a number of benefits as well. If you have
3:52
Speaker 2: to pay the Medicare surcharge, because you know, obviously we
3:54
Speaker 2: don't want to pay surcharge, and sometimes it's actually financially
3:58
Speaker 2: better for us to go and get a base level
4:00
Speaker 2: of private health insurance and not have to pay that
4:03
Speaker 2: surcharge and actually get something out of it. Right. It's
4:06
Speaker 2: not because we say, oh, if you earn more money,
4:08
Speaker 2: you absolutely have to have it. It's actually, if you
4:11
Speaker 2: earn more money, it kind of makes financial sense to
4:13
Speaker 2: get something instead of nothing and paying a surcharge to
4:16
Speaker 2: the government come tax time, which is exactly why we're
4:18
Speaker 2: having this conversation right now. So you personally have enough
4:21
Speaker 2: time to go and do your own research and make
4:23
Speaker 2: a decision that is right for you.
4:25
Speaker 1: One hundred percent, and it is confusing because there is
4:28
Speaker 1: so much information out there. So I guess today's episode
4:31
Speaker 1: is really just a non judgmental chat about kind of
4:34
Speaker 1: all the options, the difference between the public and the
4:36
Speaker 1: private system, why people would choose either option, and yeah,
4:40
Speaker 1: we're just going to get into the nitty gritty.
4:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. So, as you said up the top of this EPG,
4:46
Speaker 2: every year on the first of April, which is also
4:48
Speaker 2: April Fool's Day, so sometimes it does feel like a
4:51
Speaker 2: bit of a joke with how much they increase. We
4:53
Speaker 2: do see an increase in health insurance premiums, and this
4:56
Speaker 2: year that increase was two point seventy four percent each
5:00
Speaker 2: was the lowest increase in twenty years. And in saying that,
5:02
Speaker 2: they did go up in October, but that was actually
5:04
Speaker 2: delayed because of COVID, They pushed it out so that
5:07
Speaker 2: we didn't have that increase. So yes, that happened semi recently,
5:10
Speaker 2: but it was actually pushed out to benefit us. All
5:12
Speaker 2: that two point seventy four increase actually means the insurance
5:15
Speaker 2: providers on average bumped up their prices by two point
5:18
Speaker 2: seven four percent. However, some insurers would have bumped up
5:22
Speaker 2: there's a lot more and others a little bit less.
5:24
Speaker 1: So why is it two point seven four percent?
5:27
Speaker 2: That's an average, right, it's on average. So g every
5:30
Speaker 2: year their health insurance companies actually go and consult with
5:32
Speaker 2: the Federal Minister for Health to work out what their
5:35
Speaker 2: premiums should be moving forward and then make a decision
5:38
Speaker 2: in accordance with the increased cost of providing health insurance
5:41
Speaker 2: each year. So it's not just a number that they go, oh,
5:44
Speaker 2: we should increase it because why not, Like it is
5:46
Speaker 2: actually in direct relation to how much it cost to
5:49
Speaker 2: provide that care. And then the government reviews all of
5:51
Speaker 2: it and then they release what the average rate rise
5:54
Speaker 2: will be, which then comes into effect on the first
5:56
Speaker 2: of April, i e. April full stay. So that happened,
5:59
Speaker 2: But then G this yet another change that is going
6:02
Speaker 2: to happen is that Australians are now allowed to stay
6:04
Speaker 2: on their private health insurance until they're the age of
6:06
Speaker 2: thirty one.
6:07
Speaker 1: On their parents yeah, on their parents' health insurance.
6:09
Speaker 2: Sorry, whereas previously it was up to the age of
6:12
Speaker 2: twenty five, which I'm a little bit bitter about, if
6:15
Speaker 2: I'm honest. Why Because I'm about to turn thirty j
6:18
Speaker 2: I got kicked off my parents' private health insurance at
6:21
Speaker 2: twenty five, and they had really good insurance. So at
6:25
Speaker 2: twenty four and like six months, I went and got
6:27
Speaker 2: all my teeth done because for a kid on their
6:29
Speaker 2: particular health cover, there was no gap s dental. So
6:32
Speaker 2: I just got everything done and made sure it was
6:35
Speaker 2: all well and good. And for the past five nearly
6:37
Speaker 2: five years, I've been paying for my own health insurance,
6:39
Speaker 2: which you pause. It is so hard, but also again
6:44
Speaker 2: in privilege to be able to afford it, absolutely, but
6:46
Speaker 2: you're saying that I could have had it for another
6:48
Speaker 2: year coming, what can I go back on my parents'
6:51
Speaker 2: cover for another year because they've got that arka cool exactly.
6:54
Speaker 2: They've got the krem Dela crop of the insurance, and
6:57
Speaker 2: I've just got the like, Okay, what are the base needs?
7:00
Speaker 2: What is the cheapest I actually get with the best outcome,
7:03
Speaker 2: Whereas Mom and Dad they're like, oh no, no, no,
7:05
Speaker 2: We've got everything. We've got the bells, we've got the whistles.
7:08
Speaker 2: So jealous. Anyway. The other thing that happened on April
7:11
Speaker 2: Falls Day this year g was that the Department of
7:14
Speaker 2: Health used the average premium increase amount of that two
7:18
Speaker 2: point seventy four percent, as well as Australia's inflation rate
7:21
Speaker 2: to update their rebate adjustment factor fancy terminology. But that
7:26
Speaker 2: just determines how much you'll receive back from the government
7:28
Speaker 2: for your health insurance.
7:30
Speaker 1: So you get a little bit of cash back to you.
7:31
Speaker 2: Get a little bit cash back for having private health
7:34
Speaker 2: insurance you do. Indeed, so why does this happen every ye?
7:38
Speaker 2: Why do the insurance premiums rise? Because would be so
7:41
Speaker 2: nice if they just stayed the same forever. I'd like
7:43
Speaker 2: to pay the nineteen eighty rates. Actually would be really good.
7:47
Speaker 2: But as we mentioned before, it's because the cost of
7:50
Speaker 2: providing that care increases each and every single year. And surprisingly,
7:54
Speaker 2: g insurance providers don't actually do it to annoy us
7:57
Speaker 2: or upset us. In fact, I'm pretty sure even they
8:00
Speaker 2: work in the health insurance space, they actually want the
8:03
Speaker 2: best for us. So they're probably like, oh, we have
8:06
Speaker 2: to what's the lowest, Like we're trying to look after
8:08
Speaker 2: these guys, but they also need to pay for the
8:10
Speaker 2: cover that we're providing, otherwise they're gonna go out of business.
8:13
Speaker 2: But it is really because they need to keep up
8:15
Speaker 2: with the rising price of health care and make sure
8:16
Speaker 2: that they're keeping up with inflation and the increase of
8:19
Speaker 2: people using hospitals because obviously our population is increasing and
8:22
Speaker 2: the expensive advanced medical equipment and the fact that everybody
8:25
Speaker 2: now is just living longer, so it makes sense that
8:29
Speaker 2: it increases or be it quite frustrating when you get
8:32
Speaker 2: an insurance premium increase because you're like, man, that is
8:35
Speaker 2: getting really expensive.
8:38
Speaker 1: Moving along heavy, what does private health insurance actually get you?
8:43
Speaker 2: So the best way to answer this is actually to
8:46
Speaker 2: do a bit of a comparison between the two. The
8:49
Speaker 2: Australian government actually has a really clear outline of this
8:51
Speaker 2: which I'm going to go on and overview here, just
8:54
Speaker 2: because it's better to say it this way than to say, oh,
8:57
Speaker 2: one's better than the other. They're not. It's just you're
9:00
Speaker 2: comparing apples with oranges. They're different offerings.
9:02
Speaker 1: Yep.
9:02
Speaker 2: Obviously, when you have private health insurance, you're actually going
9:05
Speaker 2: to benefit from all the things you had with the
9:07
Speaker 2: public health insurance. You're not picking one or the other.
9:10
Speaker 2: Private health insurance is kind of like the cream on
9:12
Speaker 2: the top. Do you want that you don't have to
9:13
Speaker 2: have it? Some people don't like cream in their coffee,
9:15
Speaker 2: That's cool. You're still getting the coffee, right, and arguably
9:19
Speaker 2: you're still getting a good coffee because it's the same one.
9:21
Speaker 1: Ye.
9:22
Speaker 2: So, private health insurance, if you have insurance that includes
9:25
Speaker 2: hospital cover, then you can choose to be treated as
9:27
Speaker 2: a private patient in a public or private hospital. You
9:30
Speaker 2: might be able to choose your own doctor, you might
9:33
Speaker 2: be able to choose as to when you're admitted to hospital,
9:36
Speaker 2: whereas with public health insurance you don't usually have that option.
9:40
Speaker 2: If you are a private patient in a public hospital,
9:43
Speaker 2: public hospital waitless still apply. And if you choose to
9:46
Speaker 2: be a patient in either a private or a public hospital,
9:49
Speaker 2: Medicare will cover you for seventy five percent of the
9:52
Speaker 2: Medicare Benefits schedule fee for associated medical costs, so the
9:56
Speaker 2: remaining will be charged to you, and depending on the
9:58
Speaker 2: policy you have, insurer might cover some or all of that.
10:02
Speaker 2: So we call that the gap. So what happens is
10:05
Speaker 2: you might, you know, have this elective surgery that you
10:08
Speaker 2: go and do and let's call it like four thousand dollars,
10:11
Speaker 2: and then Medicare comes back and says, gee, we're going
10:14
Speaker 2: to cover three thousand dollars of that and then the
10:16
Speaker 2: gap is one thousand dollars. So with your private health insurance,
10:20
Speaker 2: sometimes all of that would be covered, so you're out
10:22
Speaker 2: of pocket zero dollars. But then sometimes your private health
10:26
Speaker 2: insurance might say, okay, ge, but we only cover sixty
10:29
Speaker 2: percent of that fee, so they'll pay for six hundred
10:31
Speaker 2: dollars and you're still out of pocket four hundred dollars.
10:33
Speaker 1: It depends on your policy.
10:34
Speaker 2: So it completely depends on your policy. Some are one
10:37
Speaker 2: hundred percent cover, somemer seventy percent cover, some of forty
10:39
Speaker 2: percent cover. You really need to look into what that
10:41
Speaker 2: actually means for you. Then, in comparison with a public system,
10:45
Speaker 2: you can be treated as a public patient in a
10:46
Speaker 2: public hospital by a doctor appointed by that hospital. You
10:49
Speaker 2: can't choose your doctor, and you might not have a
10:51
Speaker 2: choice about when you'll be admitted to hospital, but again
10:54
Speaker 2: you're still going to be admitted to hospital and you're
10:56
Speaker 2: still going to have a good doctor. So with the
10:58
Speaker 2: public system, so able to choose to be treated as
11:01
Speaker 2: a public patient, even if you're privately insured as well,
11:04
Speaker 2: there's a little bit more flexibility and as a public patient,
11:07
Speaker 2: you don't need to pay anything and the only things
11:10
Speaker 2: Medicare doesn't cover a private patient hospital cost like accommodation
11:15
Speaker 2: or theater fees, and medical and hospital costs sincred overseas
11:19
Speaker 2: if you don't have travel insurance, and unnecessary procedures like
11:22
Speaker 2: cosmetic surgery or emergency department admin or facility fees.
11:26
Speaker 1: So this is all within the hospital space, just to
11:28
Speaker 1: be really just.
11:29
Speaker 2: Within the hospital face, just within the hospital space. That's
11:32
Speaker 2: not talking about specialists or anything like that. It's just
11:34
Speaker 2: if you are going to go into hospital, h yeah, okay.
11:37
Speaker 2: And then when it comes to pharmaceutical so the drugs
11:40
Speaker 2: that we get, we are so lucky because in America
11:43
Speaker 2: they don't have anything like this. But under the PBS,
11:46
Speaker 2: so this is a pharmaceutical benefits scheme. You only pay
11:49
Speaker 2: part of the cost for most prescription medications. The rest
11:52
Speaker 2: is covered by the PDS and you need to show
11:54
Speaker 2: your Medicare card to get that discount, which is fine,
11:57
Speaker 2: very easy. When it comes to private health insurance though,
12:00
Speaker 2: if something isn't actually listed on the PBS, often you're
12:03
Speaker 2: able to talk to your private health insurant and get
12:06
Speaker 2: that covered, which is actually really nice, and then most
12:09
Speaker 2: insurers will be able to add that to your policy,
12:11
Speaker 2: and then they'll probably require you to make a co
12:13
Speaker 2: payment and have some limits on how much you can
12:15
Speaker 2: actually claim. And keep in mind some prescription medications aren't
12:19
Speaker 2: on the PBS, so you will actually have to pay
12:21
Speaker 2: full price for those, So it's worth understanding that. But
12:24
Speaker 2: it's actually really hard to understand what you might need
12:27
Speaker 2: if you do get sick or not. And that's one
12:29
Speaker 2: of the things I'm really passionate about. So I'm talking
12:31
Speaker 2: about health care insurance today. We are not talking about
12:35
Speaker 2: trauma insurance TPD. We're not talking about life insurance, which
12:38
Speaker 2: I think you should all be absolutely considering and making
12:41
Speaker 2: sure you're appropriately covered, because if something serious happens, like
12:44
Speaker 2: you get cancer and you have to go and do
12:48
Speaker 2: all these really expensive treatments, and then there's a new
12:50
Speaker 2: trial drug that you really want to engage with in
12:54
Speaker 2: your doctors saying hey, this has been working really well,
12:56
Speaker 2: we want to try it, but it's not on the
12:57
Speaker 2: PBS yet. That could cost you like thirty or forty
13:00
Speaker 2: thousand dollars just to do that. I've heard of situations
13:03
Speaker 2: where it's even more than that, and that's where private
13:05
Speaker 2: health insurance might come up. But no one can predict
13:08
Speaker 2: if they're going to get cancer. Yeah. So I think
13:10
Speaker 2: it's all about understanding your own risk and what is
13:13
Speaker 2: going to happen. And I guess that comes back to
13:16
Speaker 2: your personal values and what is actually a value to you. Well,
13:19
Speaker 2: I used to have it.
13:20
Speaker 1: I think I had it for two years and I
13:22
Speaker 1: was like, this isn't financially worth it for me because
13:23
Speaker 1: I haven't touched it once. I don't need it, so
13:26
Speaker 1: it's a going.
13:26
Speaker 2: To give it away. Yeah, exactly. It's totally about making
13:28
Speaker 2: a decision that is best for you and your financial situation,
13:32
Speaker 2: not going oh well, Victoria, she's on the podcast. She
13:36
Speaker 2: has private health insurance, must mean we need it. Yeah,
13:38
Speaker 2: that's absolutely not the case, because at a base level,
13:41
Speaker 2: our public system is incredible. It's just because I have
13:45
Speaker 2: all these bells and whistle treatments that I have to
13:47
Speaker 2: go and get that. I go, yep, cool, I'm going
13:49
Speaker 2: to pay that. Yeah. My private health insurance I think
13:52
Speaker 2: cost me one hundred and sixty dollars a month at
13:53
Speaker 2: this point, and it is paying for itself because every
13:57
Speaker 2: two or three months I have a three hundred dollars
13:59
Speaker 2: appointment that then medications that I need to purchase in association,
14:02
Speaker 2: so for me it works out. But I think the
14:05
Speaker 2: really important thing here is that it's different for everybody.
14:09
Speaker 2: All Right, let's talk about ambulances. Yes, I said the word, right,
14:13
Speaker 2: how do you What do you mean?
14:15
Speaker 1: Is this a word you can't say?
14:16
Speaker 2: Yeah? I really struggle with that word. I'm not going
14:18
Speaker 2: to say it again one more time. Please, No, I'm
14:20
Speaker 2: not going to say it again.
14:20
Speaker 1: Ambulance.
14:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I usually stumble over the brilliance part. Yeah, I suck,
14:27
Speaker 2: but now I'm actually really excited. But I'm also disappointed
14:30
Speaker 2: that I got excited about it, because I know Tony's
14:33
Speaker 2: not going to cut it out in the editing anyway.
14:35
Speaker 2: All Right, So paramedic cover varies from state to state,
14:41
Speaker 2: and in Queensland and Tasmania emergency services are actually provided
14:45
Speaker 2: for free, which is really cool. Another reason why Tassy
14:47
Speaker 2: is crem Dela crem. In New South Wales and Act
14:51
Speaker 2: they do have the same, but only for pensioners and
14:54
Speaker 2: then concession card holders. Right in Northern Territory, certain healthcare
14:58
Speaker 2: card holders and or concession card hold don't have to
15:00
Speaker 2: pay fees. And then in Victoria, pension and concession card
15:03
Speaker 2: holders are covered for critically necessary transport, but Commonwealth Seniors
15:08
Speaker 2: Healthcare card holders aren't covered. Sucked in, Yeah, I know
15:12
Speaker 2: what I do. See Anyway, in South Australia and Western
15:15
Speaker 2: Australia you do have to pay fees as well. But
15:18
Speaker 2: in Western Australia I believe if you're over the age
15:20
Speaker 2: of sixty five and you're on the pension, you'll get
15:22
Speaker 2: free trips as well. If you don't fall into any
15:25
Speaker 2: of these categories covering the fees, then you can get
15:27
Speaker 2: covered either directly from the ambulance authority in your state
15:31
Speaker 2: or viral health insurer. It is really important to note
15:33
Speaker 2: here that Medicare does not cover any of your ambulance
15:37
Speaker 2: transport fees in Alton, Thank you, mum. Bad? Hey, how bad?
15:42
Speaker 1: Okay, So that's interesting because I would have thought that
15:45
Speaker 1: the Amban Ambulance. I would have thought that would have
15:49
Speaker 1: been a free service, like the good people in Queensland
15:53
Speaker 1: and tas Man. Your offer, because surely you wouldn't want
15:56
Speaker 1: people not to call because I don't want to pay
15:59
Speaker 1: like it's.
15:59
Speaker 2: A bit Yeah, I think there might be a lot
16:01
Speaker 2: of underlying politics that we.
16:02
Speaker 1: Have research that's true, well enough.
16:04
Speaker 2: To have this debate on the podcast.
16:07
Speaker 1: Okay, well that said, then let's move on to medical
16:09
Speaker 1: services and general saying.
16:10
Speaker 2: That if somebody in our community does have an answer
16:14
Speaker 2: to that, please side into our dm are.
16:18
Speaker 1: That's the case paramedics in our community.
16:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, how special, how special? Incredible? Anyway, when it
16:24
Speaker 2: comes to medical services and generalized treatments, if you visit
16:28
Speaker 2: a doctor outside of the hospital, Medicare will reimburse you
16:32
Speaker 2: one hundred percent of the MBS fee for a GP
16:35
Speaker 2: and eighty five percent of the MBS fee for a specialist,
16:39
Speaker 2: the same deal, no matter if you do or don't
16:41
Speaker 2: have private health insurance, which is great, and if your
16:44
Speaker 2: doctor bog bills, you won't need to pay a cent.
16:46
Speaker 2: In saying that, I know a lot of people in
16:48
Speaker 2: our community are like, what do you mean bog bills?
16:50
Speaker 2: I can't find a doctor that bog bills. They do exist,
16:53
Speaker 2: my friend, But in saying that, they are often harder
16:56
Speaker 2: to get into because I know that some doctors can
17:00
Speaker 2: actually be flexible as well, like it's up to the
17:02
Speaker 2: doctor to choose to charge that gap, because at this point,
17:07
Speaker 2: Medicare actually rebate the doctor the same no matter what
17:10
Speaker 2: they charge the patient. They don't get more for charging
17:12
Speaker 2: you more, which like it's good and it's bad. It
17:15
Speaker 2: just means that you know they're running a business and
17:18
Speaker 2: they're setting their own fees and that's not bad. And
17:20
Speaker 2: if you don't like those fees, don't go to that doctor.
17:22
Speaker 1: Yeap to make sense, jump in here V and say
17:25
Speaker 1: that I do know a very good bulk billing clinic
17:28
Speaker 1: who does let you book in appointments. So I don't
17:32
Speaker 1: know what I will do with that information.
17:34
Speaker 2: DM me.
17:34
Speaker 1: If you're interested and you live in Melbourne.
17:36
Speaker 2: Great, give doctor referrals now aha, fabulous? All right, Well,
17:42
Speaker 2: Medicare doesn't provide benefits while Gking does. But Medicare doesn't
17:47
Speaker 2: provide benefits for most things that we often hear as
17:49
Speaker 2: quote extras. So this is a majority of dental, physio,
17:54
Speaker 2: occupational therapy, speech therapy, cairo, pedietary, et cetera. Lots of
17:58
Speaker 2: people arrange their private health care insurance. So it does
18:01
Speaker 2: cover those extras though, but if you don't use them, again,
18:04
Speaker 2: review your cover and make sure you're only cover for
18:06
Speaker 2: the things that actually matter. And something that I think
18:09
Speaker 2: is worth noting, right is that you can actually remove
18:13
Speaker 2: things or add things from your cover. So, for example,
18:17
Speaker 2: I was negotiating I'm with Booper and I was negotiating
18:21
Speaker 2: with them for my private health insurance about a year ago,
18:24
Speaker 2: and I called them up because I, honestly, even I
18:27
Speaker 2: was a bit confused about the levels of cover and
18:29
Speaker 2: what that actually meant and what's gold, silver or bronze
18:32
Speaker 2: and all of that other fun stuff. So I called
18:35
Speaker 2: them up and had to chat with the girl on
18:36
Speaker 2: the phone and she was like, well, what do you
18:38
Speaker 2: want to be covered for? Do you want to be
18:39
Speaker 2: covered for maternity care? And I was like, well no,
18:41
Speaker 2: because I'm not planning on having a baby anytime soon.
18:43
Speaker 2: And she was like, oh, okay, well why don't we
18:45
Speaker 2: remove that? And I was like great, removed it and
18:47
Speaker 2: it decreased my premium significantly. So if there are things
18:50
Speaker 2: on your cover that you know you don't need or
18:52
Speaker 2: won't use, call and get them removed so you're not
18:55
Speaker 2: paying for a service you're never going to use. Just
18:58
Speaker 2: makes sense. And the girls on the phone were really,
19:00
Speaker 2: really lovely. It's so easy to work with. Back to
19:03
Speaker 2: what Medicare does provide benefits for in this space, so
19:06
Speaker 2: they would provide benefits for things like consultation, fees for
19:09
Speaker 2: doctors and specialists, tests and exams by doctors needed to
19:13
Speaker 2: treat illnesses like X rayse and pathology tests so like
19:16
Speaker 2: blood work and eye tests, and most surgical and therapeutic
19:20
Speaker 2: procedures that happen in a public hospital, and some procedures
19:23
Speaker 2: by approved dentists, and specific items for the Allied Health
19:26
Speaker 2: Services as a part of the Chronic Disease Plan, which
19:28
Speaker 2: is kind of cool. I think that, you know, that's
19:30
Speaker 2: actually quite comprehensive. It's not like only emergency that is covered,
19:34
Speaker 2: which I know is probably confusing coming from me, but
19:37
Speaker 2: going into it, I was like, well, what does it
19:39
Speaker 2: actually include because so many people think that medicare only
19:42
Speaker 2: covers emergency services, which is not the case at all.
19:45
Speaker 2: They benefit you in a very wide array of ways.
19:48
Speaker 2: So that is basically everything in terms of the comparison
19:50
Speaker 2: between public and private. But the policy you tubes will
19:54
Speaker 2: actually determine exactly what you're covered for, so again, understand
19:57
Speaker 2: it deeply. And something I really promote is peak picking
20:00
Speaker 2: up the phone. I know most of us are millennials
20:02
Speaker 2: and we somehow are allergic to picking up the phone
20:04
Speaker 2: and asking questions and we avoid it at all costs,
20:08
Speaker 2: but it is going to be one of the easiest
20:10
Speaker 2: ways to actually determine is this right for me? And
20:12
Speaker 2: you can queiz the person. They are actually unable to
20:15
Speaker 2: provide advice to you. They're only able to say yes
20:18
Speaker 2: or no, or this is covered or this isn't covered
20:21
Speaker 2: and explain things deeply. Unfortunately, you won't be able to
20:24
Speaker 2: call them and be like, hey, which one should I
20:26
Speaker 2: get because that's illegal. But you can call them and say, well,
20:29
Speaker 2: what does it include? What doesn't it include? And you know, well,
20:32
Speaker 2: what would I use that for? How does this work?
20:34
Speaker 2: And I think that that really empowers you. So next year,
20:37
Speaker 2: when April first comes and the insurances increase again, you
20:41
Speaker 2: can understand deeply why you already have it and then
20:43
Speaker 2: reevaluate whether it's worth keeping it still. So if you
20:46
Speaker 2: do want to find out more information, I really encourage
20:48
Speaker 2: you to take a look at the government website which
20:50
Speaker 2: we have linked in our show notes.
20:51
Speaker 1: Yes, I certainly have there. I think it's time for
20:54
Speaker 1: a little breaky.
20:55
Speaker 2: Breaks, a little breaky break.
20:56
Speaker 1: Water and drink some tea. But when we return we
21:00
Speaker 1: will be talking about the Medicare levy surcharge, which we
21:03
Speaker 1: touched on above, and we will of course be outlining
21:06
Speaker 1: ways you can save on your insurance. If you are
21:08
Speaker 1: looking at getting it, don't go anywhere.
21:11
Speaker 2: Friends see you.
21:11
Speaker 1: On the flip side, we are back friends and fam
21:22
Speaker 1: e fam. How annoying is it when people say, hey, fam?
21:26
Speaker 1: Does that annoy anyone else?
21:28
Speaker 2: Just me?
21:28
Speaker 1: Anyway? You are my fam. Victoria's looking at a phone
21:31
Speaker 1: and not at me, So I just feel slightly awkward,
21:33
Speaker 1: as is probably coming through the microphone right now. The
21:36
Speaker 1: point that I'm trying to make here is that if
21:38
Speaker 1: you love We Are Family, Georgia King, if you love
21:42
Speaker 1: the show, then please join us on Facebook, the instagrams,
21:46
Speaker 1: the YouTube's, the tiktoks.
21:47
Speaker 2: You are like an old person trapped in a young
21:50
Speaker 2: person's body, Georgia King.
21:51
Speaker 1: Do you think I'm going to need to get TikTok?
21:54
Speaker 1: I was having this little moment the other day and
21:55
Speaker 1: I was like.
21:56
Speaker 2: George gonna need it. But I mean it would probably work.
21:59
Speaker 1: But I mean, as a person who wants to work
22:02
Speaker 1: in the media, who I guess does work in the media.
22:05
Speaker 2: It actually makes me laugh so hard. Sidestep personal conversation
22:08
Speaker 2: about Georgia King on the Pod today. Fast forward last
22:11
Speaker 2: not interested, But Georgia actually works in a relatively high
22:16
Speaker 2: profile business doing social media, which makes me laugh so hard.
22:20
Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell them, but it makes me
22:23
Speaker 2: laugh because her social media is dire.
22:26
Speaker 1: Like the last post I did was when we won
22:28
Speaker 1: that award, shout out to us ago.
22:31
Speaker 2: It was like November or something you pick up today?
22:34
Speaker 1: How does that sound?
22:35
Speaker 2: Thank you Georgia, But it does make me laugh. For
22:37
Speaker 2: someone who is so good at social media, they just
22:40
Speaker 2: aren't on social media at all. In fact, you've got Instagram,
22:45
Speaker 2: actually works in the digital marketing space and as you know,
22:49
Speaker 2: is quite similar to you in terms of he doesn't
22:51
Speaker 2: even have Instagram and seldom ever uses faceress. So sometimes
22:56
Speaker 2: you just never know what people are good at based
22:59
Speaker 2: on their Instagram because they might not even have them.
23:01
Speaker 1: Moving on from stories about George, so a lot of
23:04
Speaker 1: people have been asking in our group about the tax
23:07
Speaker 1: implications involved when it comes to health insurance. A lot
23:10
Speaker 1: of people have been asking if they should just get
23:12
Speaker 1: it because it will be more financially than official for
23:15
Speaker 1: them than not to talk us through that.
23:17
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I think that's a really good place to
23:19
Speaker 2: start this conversation, which is, well, what makes most financial
23:23
Speaker 2: sense to you. And I've said this before. If it
23:26
Speaker 2: is financially beneficial to have it, why would you not
23:29
Speaker 2: want to have a private health insurance policy then not
23:32
Speaker 2: be covered and just pay another surcharge to the government,
23:34
Speaker 2: which I get and the searcharge exists because people pay it.
23:38
Speaker 2: But I think that you know, if you could find
23:40
Speaker 2: a policy that financially works for you and it makes sense,
23:44
Speaker 2: I would prefer you to have the cover than not.
23:46
Speaker 2: It absolutely makes sense in that aspect. But I think
23:49
Speaker 2: a lot of people are just dragging their feet on it.
23:51
Speaker 2: They can't be bothered, or they just don't know where
23:53
Speaker 2: to start, or they don't know how to do it.
23:55
Speaker 2: And that's where the shees on the money community can
23:57
Speaker 2: come to the rescue. And I reckon this week we
23:59
Speaker 2: might have a thread in the Facebook group Georgia just
24:02
Speaker 2: talking about Okay, like, if you're in this situation, what
24:06
Speaker 2: did you prioritize? You don't need it, but you don't
24:10
Speaker 2: see a value in having it, but you want it
24:12
Speaker 2: because of the financial benefits. So what's the best policy
24:15
Speaker 2: or what you know? What are you guys doing Because
24:17
Speaker 2: obviously we don't want to provide the advice, but sometimes
24:20
Speaker 2: learning from other people's experiences is really powerful because reviewing
24:24
Speaker 2: everybody's websites is hard and dry.
24:27
Speaker 1: It is hard and dry. And also I think the
24:30
Speaker 1: comparison websites are slightly biased, rian like if you're paying more,
24:35
Speaker 1: then you.
24:35
Speaker 2: Might get a bah to total and I've said that
24:37
Speaker 2: a million times. Please avoid the comparison websites, especially the
24:41
Speaker 2: biggest ones, because when they make commission from you signing up,
24:45
Speaker 2: and we're not saying that commission is bad, it just
24:47
Speaker 2: means that they're actually not authentically promoting the product that
24:51
Speaker 2: is best for you, but potentially promoting the product that
24:54
Speaker 2: paid the most to come up at the top of
24:56
Speaker 2: the list, which is really sad. And I think that
24:59
Speaker 2: they give com a not so shiny name, Whereas when
25:03
Speaker 2: we talk about like mortgage brokers, they get a commission,
25:05
Speaker 2: but they work in a completely separate, non bias way,
25:08
Speaker 2: which means I want mortgage brokers to get paid a
25:11
Speaker 2: commission because it means that I, as a consumer, don't
25:13
Speaker 2: have to pay more to engage one of their services.
25:17
Speaker 2: But when it comes to health insurances and comparison websites,
25:20
Speaker 2: they're actually marketing tools, and I think we need to
25:22
Speaker 2: see those differences because some people hear this podcast and
25:25
Speaker 2: they'll hear commissions bad, got it, Victoria, no problems, and
25:28
Speaker 2: then they hear broker gets commissions bad. No, absolutely not
25:32
Speaker 2: the case. So it's different horses for different courses, and
25:35
Speaker 2: we just need to understand it. But to take a
25:37
Speaker 2: quick step back, Georgia, let's actually talk about what the
25:40
Speaker 2: Medicare leve surcharge actually is, because for those of you
25:44
Speaker 2: who might not know or might not have even considered
25:46
Speaker 2: it yet, it's really important to understand. So if you
25:49
Speaker 2: earn over ninety thousand dollars and don't have private health insurance,
25:53
Speaker 2: you're going to have to pay the Medicare levee surcharge,
25:56
Speaker 2: and you'll have to pay it if you and your
25:57
Speaker 2: partner have a combined income of one hundred and eighty
26:01
Speaker 2: thousand dollars or more as well, So it's ninety thousand
26:03
Speaker 2: dollars for individuals or one eighty for couples, and then
26:06
Speaker 2: depending on what you earn, you might have to pay
26:08
Speaker 2: an extra one point five percent of your annual earnings
26:11
Speaker 2: to the ATO every year for not being covered. And
26:15
Speaker 2: that is why for some people it's just more financially
26:17
Speaker 2: sensible to have private health insurance to actually negate that charge,
26:21
Speaker 2: because if you think about it, if you earned one
26:24
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty thousand dollars, like one percent of your incomes,
26:27
Speaker 2: like eighteen hundred dollars, so that makes sense because you
26:31
Speaker 2: might only be paying twelve hundred dollars for private health
26:33
Speaker 2: insurance in one year. It's kind of like, well, I'd
26:35
Speaker 2: prefer that option and to have some level of cover
26:37
Speaker 2: then have nothing and be paying more. But again, Georgia,
26:40
Speaker 2: this isn't just something that's been created by the government
26:43
Speaker 2: to annoy us, because so many people just think that
26:45
Speaker 2: they exist to solely pester us. This is actually designed
26:48
Speaker 2: to help us, and it's designed to encourage high income
26:51
Speaker 2: earners to invest in private health cover and to use
26:54
Speaker 2: the private hospital system to take the pressure off the
26:57
Speaker 2: public system for those of us who genuinely can't afford
27:00
Speaker 2: to have private health intruance. So it makes sense when
27:03
Speaker 2: you get into the crux of it and you're like, well,
27:05
Speaker 2: if you earn more than ninety thousand dollars a year,
27:07
Speaker 2: like as an individual, you probably can afford it, in
27:10
Speaker 2: which case, let's see you paying for it so that
27:13
Speaker 2: there's not so much pressure when things happen in the
27:15
Speaker 2: public system because it just is all fair in love
27:18
Speaker 2: and more right. Yeah, yeah, So people need to pay
27:21
Speaker 2: this on top of the Medicare levee, So that's in
27:24
Speaker 2: addition as well, not just on its own or one
27:27
Speaker 2: or the other, which is the extra two percent tax
27:30
Speaker 2: that they have to pay to access the incredible Medicare system.
27:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Medicare is not just free. We're all paying.
27:35
Speaker 2: No, we're all paying for it with our taxes. But
27:38
Speaker 2: how lucky are we?
27:39
Speaker 1: I know, it's a great exacting well done Australia.
27:43
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm saying thank you on behalf of the country.
27:46
Speaker 1: Tell me about lifetime healthcare loading.
27:48
Speaker 2: Where'd you hear this term?
27:50
Speaker 1: I googled it, Yeah, it was on the gov website.
27:52
Speaker 2: It was. So this is a government initiative that encourages
27:55
Speaker 2: you to choose private health insurance early on in life
27:58
Speaker 2: because the earlier insured usually the cheaper it is for life.
28:02
Speaker 2: And if you haven't got private hospital cover from the
28:05
Speaker 2: year that you turned thirty one, which ge you and
28:07
Speaker 2: I have heaps at times, you will be made to
28:10
Speaker 2: make a two percent LHC loading on top of your
28:13
Speaker 2: premium for every year you're aged over thirty. If you
28:16
Speaker 2: do decide to invest in health insurance down the line,
28:19
Speaker 2: that's speno.
28:19
Speaker 1: That is speno.
28:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, expensive as get out, which I don't love, but
28:25
Speaker 2: you know what it is, what it is. We're all
28:26
Speaker 2: about education here, so let's understand. Yes, it's going to
28:29
Speaker 2: impact us negatively, we can avoid it. An example of
28:32
Speaker 2: this would be if you took out private hospital cover
28:34
Speaker 2: when you were forty, you'd actually have to pay an
28:37
Speaker 2: extra twenty percent on the cost of this cover per
28:40
Speaker 2: year for ten years. That's a lot and then the
28:43
Speaker 2: maximum loading does cap out how generous, but it keeps
28:47
Speaker 2: out at seventy percent. It's a lot of dollar rus
28:50
Speaker 2: So once you paid the loading for ten years of
28:52
Speaker 2: consistent cover, that loading wraps up and you drop back
28:55
Speaker 2: down to paying the normal fees that everybody else was paying.
28:57
Speaker 2: But to avoid it, you've got to get private hospital
29:00
Speaker 2: cover before you turn thirty one and then you won't
29:03
Speaker 2: have to pay that loading. And if you're new to
29:05
Speaker 2: Australia by the way, and you're over thirty one and
29:08
Speaker 2: purchase hospital cover within the first twelve months of actually
29:10
Speaker 2: registering for Medicare benefits, the loading is only going to
29:13
Speaker 2: apply to hospital insurance rather than the general extras cover,
29:16
Speaker 2: so they obviously have some level of flexibility there. But
29:19
Speaker 2: for Australians who've lived here all our lives, they're like, no,
29:22
Speaker 2: you had time.
29:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, golly gosh, there's.
29:27
Speaker 2: Been a lot of much pressure.
29:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot, a lot to consider on that
29:34
Speaker 1: ve Tho, how do we figure out if we actually
29:37
Speaker 1: need it and if it is financially worth it for us?
29:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I told you about my situation before, which
29:42
Speaker 2: I'm really open about, and it is semi expensive. So
29:46
Speaker 2: for me, like back to the example of those physio visits,
29:48
Speaker 2: Let's say it's four hundred dollars a year or maybe
29:50
Speaker 2: then I spend another four hundred dollars at the dentist.
29:53
Speaker 2: Then I'd add that amount up and I'd add it
29:55
Speaker 2: to the lifetime healthcare loading and then the Medicare levee
29:58
Speaker 2: so charged that you have to pay. And if the
29:59
Speaker 2: total here is less than what you would pay for
30:01
Speaker 2: health insurance, then it's probably going to be a worthwhile
30:04
Speaker 2: expense for you to go and look into private healthcare insurance.
30:07
Speaker 2: If it's not, maybe it's not. But again I know
30:10
Speaker 2: so many people who have it just for the security
30:12
Speaker 2: blanket it provides so financially, we are a finance podcast,
30:16
Speaker 2: we are talking to you about the options and how
30:18
Speaker 2: it's going to financially impact you. You need to make
30:20
Speaker 2: the right decision for you, and unfortunately, Georgia Keena, we
30:23
Speaker 2: can't do that for you.
30:25
Speaker 1: Definitely, I definitely can't. Yeah, the lots of people in
30:30
Speaker 1: our community lately have been asking if they could perhaps
30:33
Speaker 1: just create like an emergency fund for medical expenses, like
30:36
Speaker 1: a medical expenses hub that they could draw from if required.
30:40
Speaker 1: Is that a good idea?
30:42
Speaker 2: Look, it's a smart idea, but again it comes into
30:44
Speaker 2: whether it is financially viable for you. And obviously with
30:48
Speaker 2: the additional charges you'd get if you earn over a
30:50
Speaker 2: certain amount, maybe it isn't viable and it's actually better
30:52
Speaker 2: for you to just get private health insurance because otherwise
30:55
Speaker 2: you're paying the Medicare levee surcharge in addition to having
30:58
Speaker 2: this savings account that you've got. It's not actually feasible
31:01
Speaker 2: if that's the case. But then in addition to that,
31:04
Speaker 2: how do you know how much your medical expenses are
31:06
Speaker 2: going to be? Like if you go, oh, one thousand
31:09
Speaker 2: dollars is enough? And then you're actually out of pocket
31:11
Speaker 2: for a massive accident of ten thousand dollars, like you're
31:14
Speaker 2: still in debt. Yeah, so I think it's about whether
31:16
Speaker 2: it's a value to you. I probably wouldn't recommend doing
31:19
Speaker 2: it that way. I always, always, always recommend having an
31:23
Speaker 2: emergency fund like that is something that I prioritize before
31:26
Speaker 2: debt reduction even. But I don't want you to have
31:30
Speaker 2: to go and make decisions about your health just based
31:33
Speaker 2: on a savings fund like yep. Cool. If that's a
31:36
Speaker 2: value to you and it makes you feel safe and secure,
31:38
Speaker 2: go for it, my friend, do it. But let's actually
31:40
Speaker 2: look at what fees and charges you have to pay
31:42
Speaker 2: here in addition for not having the private health care insurance.
31:46
Speaker 1: Okay, good answer.
31:48
Speaker 2: Thanks.
31:48
Speaker 1: As Kate in our group said in a thread literally
31:53
Speaker 1: from a few months back, I did some scrolling. Private
31:56
Speaker 1: health insurance is an innately personal decision, and if it
32:00
Speaker 1: suits you may not suit the next person. So we
32:03
Speaker 1: can't just tell our listeners what to choose.
32:05
Speaker 2: I wish it was as easy as that. I wish
32:07
Speaker 2: we could be like, hey, here's the guide to life.
32:09
Speaker 2: This is how much you need to invest, this is
32:11
Speaker 2: how much you need to say, these are your goals,
32:13
Speaker 2: this is your values. Here, here's your feet, like that.
32:15
Speaker 1: Would be guide to life.
32:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, but unfortunately it's not like that. And what my
32:20
Speaker 2: values are aren't your values. And that's what makes us
32:23
Speaker 2: all special. So let's actually spend the time and the
32:26
Speaker 2: energy working out what we need to be covered for
32:29
Speaker 2: and what that actually looks like for you. And the
32:31
Speaker 2: number one thing here, do your research. Understand what you're
32:34
Speaker 2: getting yourself into. Understand what you're going to be up
32:37
Speaker 2: for if you don't have this cover, and then what
32:39
Speaker 2: the cover would cost. Because even if the cover is
32:42
Speaker 2: going to cost a bit more, like let's say it's
32:44
Speaker 2: one hundred dollars more a year, great, maybe that one
32:46
Speaker 2: hundred dollars is worth it to you now because you're like,
32:48
Speaker 2: all right, well it is more expensive to have private
32:50
Speaker 2: health insurance, but also i'm getting nothing for this thing
32:54
Speaker 2: I'm going to pay anyway, So one hundred bucks more
32:56
Speaker 2: and there's a little bit of value there.
32:57
Speaker 1: Okay, they let's wrap it up here.
33:00
Speaker 2: You're done with me with my final.
33:02
Speaker 1: Question for today? How can we save on private health
33:07
Speaker 1: insurance if we are going down this line?
33:09
Speaker 2: Look, there are a heap of ways to quote save
33:11
Speaker 2: on private health insurance. So a lot of people do
33:13
Speaker 2: choose to pay for all their insurance premiums in one hit,
33:16
Speaker 2: and they do that before the first of April so
33:18
Speaker 2: that they can make the most of the previous year's
33:20
Speaker 2: lower price. Again, that's a privilege that a lot of
33:23
Speaker 2: people might not have access to, and obviously that's not
33:26
Speaker 2: overly helpful if at this stage we're in May, which
33:29
Speaker 2: we are, but now it's something to think about for
33:31
Speaker 2: next year's price increase. Another thing I'd recommend is don't
33:35
Speaker 2: look at the shiny marketing materials and don't look at
33:38
Speaker 2: the snazzy sign up perks that entice you to pay
33:40
Speaker 2: for things you don't actually need, Like I don't care
33:42
Speaker 2: if you give me a Fitbit like that Fitbit's not
33:45
Speaker 2: going to help me if I'm paying extra one hundred
33:47
Speaker 2: dollars a month that I didn't need to be paying.
33:49
Speaker 2: I promise you going out and buying your own Fitbit
33:51
Speaker 2: as a worldward for putting private health insurance into place,
33:54
Speaker 2: is going to be a better idea. Again, compare options
33:57
Speaker 2: and policies make use of these intro wre it's companies'
34:00
Speaker 2: call centers call them. They are trained, ask them what
34:03
Speaker 2: it means, take some notes, be like, thank you so much.
34:05
Speaker 2: I'll call back. If I decide to go with your policy,
34:07
Speaker 2: call the other person and say, hey, cool, this person
34:10
Speaker 2: could give me this. What's your cover on this? Think
34:12
Speaker 2: about your medical history as well, whether that's personally or
34:16
Speaker 2: your direct family history. So have your biological parents experienced
34:19
Speaker 2: any level of medical complications or issues that have arisen
34:23
Speaker 2: and is that genetic? For example, if breast cancer runs
34:27
Speaker 2: really deeply through your family and your mum had it,
34:29
Speaker 2: and your sister had it, and then your grandmother has it,
34:31
Speaker 2: obviously you are at a higher risk than the average
34:34
Speaker 2: bear to get breast cancer. Sadly, So maybe it is
34:37
Speaker 2: a good idea to be, you know, future proofing because
34:40
Speaker 2: you're like, you know what I it just is the
34:42
Speaker 2: peace of mind I need right now. So understanding what
34:44
Speaker 2: that means genetically for you is really important. Another hot
34:49
Speaker 2: tip coming from G. King today steering away from combined
34:53
Speaker 2: couple's cover. We'll having this conversation earlier and you had
34:56
Speaker 2: to look into it, and we found that combined couple's
34:58
Speaker 2: color is really generic and it covers you for things
35:01
Speaker 2: you might not need I e. G. King and I
35:04
Speaker 2: we haven't actually done the testing, but both of us
35:07
Speaker 2: are nearly ninety nine point nine to five percent. Sure
35:09
Speaker 2: we don't have prostates, but if we got combined couples cover,
35:12
Speaker 2: we would be covered for prostate CHA, which is not
35:15
Speaker 2: all that helpful given I really don't think I have one.
35:19
Speaker 2: And just making sure that you're paying for what you
35:21
Speaker 2: need and not what you don't need. So if there's
35:23
Speaker 2: shiny extras for Phizzio, but you never go to the
35:26
Speaker 2: Fizzio and won't go, maybe you don't need to include that,
35:30
Speaker 2: And don't be afraid to use different providers. It might
35:33
Speaker 2: seem easier to have everything all in one place, but
35:36
Speaker 2: you can sometimes get better value if you blend some
35:38
Speaker 2: policies from different providers. Genius genius. Sorry, the smoothie smoothies
35:43
Speaker 2: are better than fruit juice.
35:44
Speaker 1: God, I love smoothies. Shout out to the Mantaalizer fruit
35:47
Speaker 1: and VEG spent a lot of smoothies large, extra thick
35:52
Speaker 1: tropical paradise. That was my great, great choice.
35:56
Speaker 2: All right, I think we nearly done, Georgie. Let's wrap
35:59
Speaker 2: it up.
35:59
Speaker 1: But I guess there all of today's story is no judgment.
36:02
Speaker 1: Do whatever is best for you financially and health wise,
36:06
Speaker 1: I guess, but hopefully we've laid it out really clearly here.
36:10
Speaker 2: Do you boo?
36:11
Speaker 1: You do you boo, And we will leave the link
36:14
Speaker 1: in the show notes for that incredibly helpful government website.
36:17
Speaker 1: The I do think officially, that is all we.
36:20
Speaker 2: Have time for to that is not Georgia. Just before
36:22
Speaker 2: we head off, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect
36:25
Speaker 2: to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island to peoples, they're
36:28
Speaker 2: the traditional custodians of the lands, the waterways and the
36:31
Speaker 2: skies all across Australia. We thank you for sharing and
36:34
Speaker 2: for caring for the land on which we are able
36:36
Speaker 2: to learn. We pay our respects to elders past and present,
36:40
Speaker 2: and we share our friendship and our kindness.
36:42
Speaker 1: And remember, guys, that the advice shared on She's on
36:44
Speaker 1: the Money is general in nature and does not consider
36:47
Speaker 1: out your individual circumstances. She's on the Money exists purely
36:51
Speaker 1: for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to
36:54
Speaker 1: make an investment or a financial decision. And we promise
36:58
Speaker 1: VD is an authorized representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management
37:02
Speaker 1: Proprietary Limited ABN three four one three two four six
37:05
Speaker 1: three two five seven a FOSL three three nine one
37:08
Speaker 1: five one. And of course thank you to Tone, our producer,
37:12
Speaker 1: for putting together today's podcast, which I think is going
37:16
Speaker 1: to be quite a long one.
37:17
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be a long one.
37:18
Speaker 1: Feels like we've been in here for a while.
37:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, I know. We love Tony.
37:22
Speaker 1: Cheers Tony, Cheers Torne next week, Hi guys,