Yahoo Finance Aussies have 12 days left to claim $1,300
Millions of Aussies could be leaving an average of $1,300 worth of health insurance extras unused before they reset on January 1.
New data from personal-finance marketplace company Compare Club revealed Australians could be leaving thousands of dollars worth of unused health insurance extras such as dental, optical, physiotherapy and podiatry on the table.
Most major health insurance providers, including Medibank, Bupa, and HBF, are set to reset extras in January.
Also read: Health insurance: The simple way Aussies can save $1,800 per year
Also read: 3 health insurance hacks to cut costs and save a fortune
Also read: 2.6 million Aussies ditch or downgrade their health insurance as cost of living bites
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.
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.
“So, if your kids need new glasses or a dental check-up, squeeze it in before Christmas. You might even have remedial massage rebates in your policy, which is a nice, affordable way to de-stress at the end of the year,” he said.
Secondly, Davis said Aussies should shop around and look at switching to a policy that was a lot closer to what you’d actually use.
“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.
“With many health fund members about to get another price hike in April 2023, it’s never been more important to wring every last cent of value out of your policy. Switching to a better extras package is one way to take back control of your cover.”
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.
