Do you have any children who have served, or are serving, in the Australian Defence Force (ADF)? If so, you are eligible to join Defence Health a not-for-profit health fund offering much cheaper rates than most private health insurance funds.
If you or your partner served in the ADF you may already be aware of Defence Health – but there are many other ways you could be eligible to join the health fund and most people are not aware of them.
If either of your parents, any of your children, your brother or sister or an ex-spouse or partner served in the defence force, you will be eligible to join.
Even if you are the family member of someone who worked for a company or agency contracted to the Department of Defence, or worked for one of those companies yourself, you are eligible to join Defence Health.
How much will you save?
As with all private health insurance queries, how much you can save depends on what level of cover you want.
When comparing private health insurance funds, your best source of advice is privatehealth.gov.au, as it allows you to compare exactly what level of hospital cover and excess you want, making sure you are comparing apples with apples.
As a guide to the potential savings available from Defence Health, we entered a hypothetical single male seeking the top level of hospital cover in Victoria and some value extras coverage and the savings were considerable.
The monthly premium range for Defence Health was $245.61–$260.73 with a maximum excess between $200–$400. The comparable offering from leading health insurance provider NIB was $382.55–$399.75 per month with a maximum excess of $500.
If you do decide to switch, Defence Health will recognise the waiting periods you have already served, so you can claim immediately and cover your benefit entitlements included in your old cover, as long as the same services are offered on the new cover.
If you would like to know more, visit defencehealth.com.au
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