[jess]

The Dominion Post has yet another story today about people waiting too long for surgery in New Zealand. It's starting to make me worry. My family has an abysmal track record. I know I could go my whole life without the diseases that caused early deaths for my relatives, who knows, but I did not hit the healthy gene lottery, that's for sure! Here my health insurance is covered by my employer, and if nothing else we have a world famous hospital miles from our house.

Does anyone living over there have a sense for what the wait times are really like if you have suspicious blood results or need something checked out by a specialist? Is Wellington having the worst problem, or is the Post just covering the issue better? And is it just particular areas like the vascular surgery they talk about today, or a wider overall problem?

Does anyone use the private insurance that I hear will help to get quick medical attention for serious conditions?

Ok, done sounding like a nervous nellie. :oops: It's not as if I'm not going to move; I'm just wondering whether to budget for private insurance, and whether it actually helps.

Thanks,
Jessica

[Hannah-NL]

Jess I wish I knew the answers to that, as I read your posting, then my eye fell on the bottom line:
EOI selected Feb 16 (120 pts. no job offer), Decision Successful Feb 21, ITA received Mar 7
How did you do all that? We were selected may 25 and are still waiting for any news..

(Is there someone we need to bribe? ;) :laugh )

[jess]

Hi Hannah,

I have no idea. Wish I could tell you, but I think someone on the forum got it right when they said somebody sticks their hand in a big pile of EOIs and just pulls one out at random. :roll:

Our times are unusual, so though I know the wait is full of anxiety, I wouldn't think anything is actually wrong on your end. We just had some dumb luck. Congratulations on your EOI being selected!

Take care,
Jessica

[clg]

Hi Jessica,

I can't answer your question but I have read the same stories and have simmilar concerns. We are going to buy private health insurance to avoid running into the wait list. The cost of insurance seems quite reasonable and I think worth it for the peace of mind.

Chris

[Hannah-NL]

Hi Jessica, I think they were right! :?
Now tell me the lucky numbers for next weeks lottery please? ;)
Oh and of course congratulations on your PR! :nice1 :cheers

[Going2NZ]

On the insurance issue, I'd like to get an idea of cost and types of coverage but when I search online there are way too many choices and not any names that I recognize. Anyone have any suggestions on what companies to call or not to call as a starting point? Or maybe there is a govt agency that regulates that sort of business that might have approximate costs, etc.? My mother-in-law is coming over with us and won't be covered unless we get private insurance.

On the somehow fast-tracked PRs (I think this includes us since we put in our EOI mid-Feb and got PR late May), I wish I knew what magic words to share that would work for everyone. It sure wasn't due to patience 'cause I know that was in short supply during the whole thing!! :oops: I do know that our case worker was fabulous and very easy to work with so maybe that is the key to it all.

Susan

[jubjub]

Have seen southern cross mentioned before, not sure what they are like, but they seem to be pretty big. There was another big company got mentioned as well, but mind has gone blank.... I'll come back to youif I remember the other one I had seen someone recommend.

[Carol]

We have "major medical" insurance with Southern Cross......it would cover an operation or treatment referred to by a doctor (eg mammogram - done as QUICK as you want it!!!!)

It doesnt cover doctors visits prescriptions or dental treatment.
We pay around $45 for the 5 of us every fortnight.

[neilw71]

Another thing to remember when you arrive here and take out medical insurance is "pre-existing conditions". In effect you wipe the slate clean and have to suffer the 3 year wait for any of these. Hence several conditions my wife was covered for in the UK as they arose after we took out private cover there, are now NOT covered in NZ for the next 3 years!

Just another small thing to think about :?

Oh yeah.....remember many companies offer discounted cover through corporate schemes for all members of the company, so don't rush in and take cover until you know what your new company offer.

Neil

[neilw71]

???? I can't use "a r o s e" ?? Strange :laugh

[Timbo]

:bobby over zealous policing I think they call it Neil. :bobby :laugh

[GeorgeM]

They could have thought that you meant a rose by another name....

[Going2NZ]

Excellent point, Neil. I hadn't though of that angle. But mostly I am looking to get an idea of the cost so we can factor it in to our out-of-pocket $ to set things up when we get there. Unless things are drastically different in NZ (which I'm counting on for so many other things), I don't expect to be able to include my mother-in-law on any scheme I may be eligible for through a job.

I'll take a look at Southern Cross - that should give me some idea of the types of coverage and pricing.

Thanks all!

Susan

[neilw71]

susan,

We pay approx $60 / mth for 2 of us. That is discounted with my work. It's for a fairly basic cover for specialist treatment and surgery - no dentist.

Neil

[Singel]

Just our thoughts...................

At the moment, my hubby and I are in good health, however we want to make sure that we got adequate coverage if there is any major illness occur.

We find that Southern Cross provide basic specialist and surgical care which we felt inadequate.

Therefore, we got an insurance broker to discuss our expections on major healthcare and he got these two big insurance companies for us to assess :
1) Sovereign Insurance : http://www.sovereign.co.nz/
2) Tower Insurance : http://www.tower.co.nz/Web_Home.asp

After we have reviewed and scrutinize these 2 companies' health insurance coverage, we decided to go with Sovereign Insurance and we paid a premium of NZ$101.43 per month for the two of us.

:cheers
Ivy

[Mildred]

My own renal specialist was considering emigrating to NZ. After spending a month there last year with his family he decided not to pursue it. Funnily enough he felt the cost of living would be too high even on his wages! He also said he would miss all the history this country has to offer.

He did say the renal units are years behind the ones in the UK which he found worrying.