Yahoo Finance 3 days left for Aussies to claim $1,300
Medibank, Bupa, and HBF customers have been reminded to use all their extras benefits before they reset on January 1, 2023.
Aussies could be letting an average of $1,300 go to waste with health insurance extras going unused.
Millions of private health insurance customers, inlcuding those with Bupa, HBF and Medibank, have been reminded to use up their extras before benefits reset on January 1, 2023.
New data from personal-finance marketplace company Compare Club revealed many Australian policy holders could spend less and still get more back just by reviewing their extras cover and cutting out services they didn’t use.
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The research found most Australian health insurance policy holders could access an average of $1,050 worth of dental rebates, but were only claiming an average of $237.80 a year. This meant they were leaving $812 worth of potential benefits on the table.
Similarly, with one major fund, an Australian family of four has access to a total value of $17,720 worth of rebates on extras, but if that family only uses the policy for basic dental check-ups, glasses and physio, they’ll only claim $2,908, leaving more than $14,000 worth of value untouched.
Compare Club CEO Andrew Davis said that, at a time when value for money had never been more important, it was a shame for Australians to be missing out on hundreds of dollars worth of medical services.
“Extras cover can give exceptional value if used properly and, whilst many smart Aussies understand their policies and get great value, they’re very much in the minority,” Davis said.
“The good news is, with most funds about to reset their annual limits for extras, there’s two easy ways to make sure you’re not leaving money on the table.”
Davis said it was important to first check what you had remaining and to book whatever you could and secondly, shop around and don’t be afraid to switch to a policy that better suits your needs.
“There’s no point in paying hundreds of dollars for generous annual extras limits if you never get anywhere near using them up,” he said.
“There are some seriously good-value policies available in the market right now, including ones that will give you 100 per cent back for a check-up, scale and clean at the dentist. A large family could make back a fair amount of the cost of the policy in one dentist visit alone.”
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