[benhila]

Hi,

ASB bank is trying to sell me their Sovereign health insurance. It comes up to $1592 per year for me and Ben (aged 47 and 50) and includes specialist and diagnositic testing but no pre-existing conditions and an excess of $300 per claim. It does not cover regular GP visits and prescriptions either. Ben doesn't have Southern Cross at work but of course we can go for them privately. I will be grateful for any insights/advice as I hate to go into this thing blindly.

Many thanks
Hila

[sizzlingbadger]

I would check out Southern Cross first and compare them.

I can't remember what we pay for ours but we have doctors and prescription claims which is a great for us as we seem to have our own reserved space there at present :exit

[Silverwing86]

We considered ASB medical insurance as well since we have everything else with them (mortgage, savings, house/contents/car/life/income protection insurances), but they were not competitive with Southern Cross at all. In fact, our Personal Banker suggested straight off that it might not be the best option for us !

Pre-existing conditions are an issue with most insurances, so doubt you'd be able to get around that and if you did, the insurance would probably be very expensive.

We're now with Southern Cross and so far we're happy. I chose Wellbeing two and module B (if that means anything at all to you ;)) which includes regular GP visits and prescriptions, no excess, and pay around $ 79 per month.

Have had a few issues and procedures and everything was handled professionally and with care. So far they haven't give me a hard time about anything, quite a different experience from where I came from (The Netherlands), where I had to pay approximately $ 260 per month :eek: !

Cheers,
Silver

[benhila]

Hi and thank you for your answers! Funnily enough, silverwings86, wellbeing two plus module 2 is exactly what I was looking at so your answer scored all the points for me. Off to book the plan!

Cheers
Hila

[Silverwing86]

Hi Hila,

Glad to hear I could help :yes ! Good luck with getting it sorted.

Cheers,
Silver

[Leccy-Lee]

Interesting thing is i been looking at getting some health insurance as my "1 year travel policy" ends soon, but when i spoke to both Southern Cross and a Broker in town i was duly told that unless i have a min of a two year work permit (i dont currently) they cannot offer me any cover at all.

So prey tell god forbid if i break my leg in two weeks with no cover at all. hope the British consulates in a good mood.....

NOTE TO SELF : Dont break your leg.......

[benhila]

Hi Leccy-Lee

You should be covered by ACC in case of an accident and anyway, if you do break a leg, get a speedy electric wheel chair so you can outrace the deporters. Not funny really, is it?

Best of luck
Hila

[marybelle]

So prey tell god forbid if i break my leg in two weeks with no cover at all. hope the British consulates in a good mood.....

NOTE TO SELF : Dont break your leg.......

Good idea Lee as breaking your leg would involve ........injections!!:exit

Hope you blood test goes/went well.:nice1

Marybelle

[half_pint]

Hi Silver,
Thanks for your information; very helpful. Im' trying to sort out health insurance for famil of 4 (2 adults 2 children) & am also looking at Wellbeing 2.
Would you mind letting me know how many adults/children are included in your premium?
I seem to be getting much higher premium quotes!
Thank you,
Rebecca

[Silverwing86]

Hi Rebecca,

You're most welcome, glad the information is of help to you.

That you're coming out at a higher premium probably makes sense as my premium is based on me alone (ie: one adult ;)). Admittedly, after rechecking my premium (just to be sure I was giving correct information), I realised my premium after one year has been recently adjusted to $ 81.

My partner has chosen just Wellbeing Two without any extra modules and his premium is around the $ 52 mark.

We did health insurance comparisons when we first arrived in January 2007 and found that, albeit not the very cheapest, the Southern Cross quote was very competitive and the service offered satisfactory. I feel where health insurance is concerned, it's not simply about finding the cheapest premium, but what you get for your money is, IMHO, at least as important and we felt that Southern Cross scored well in that department. Positive experiences by others also helped us decide.

Good luck with it and do let me know if there's anything I can help you with.

Cheers,
Silver

[half_pint]

Many thanks, Silver for your reply & info. :)
It's reassuring to know that we haven't been given a terrible rate! It's so hard to know whether we should be negotiating more or indeed, whether we could - I'm useless at haggling anyway!
I think we'll go with Southern Cross as the premium seems reasonable &, as you said, value for money & sevice is extremely important.
Thanks for your postings, it's really helpful to make decisions when you have others' experiences to guide you!
Rebecca
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