Private Health cover is essentially "Group Insurance" that means there is no underwriting, just some pre-existing condition exclusions. so you can be pretty healthy and pay the same rates as someone who is a train wreck, or decides to have a bunch of children and get their benefits.
The last 3 experiences went like this
Boxing day 2012, stepped on a sewing needle and bits broke off in my foot, went to St Andrews Emergency, pretty sure I would need admitting for surgery, the doctor agreed but there were no surgeons, so because they could not admit me they charged me $300 for the consult + $85 for the x-ray. Didn't want to be a burden on the public but had no choice.
Daughter gets booked into the Wes for knee surgery. nil by mouth since night before, supposed to be operated on at 1pm, didn't get done till 10.30 that evening so fancy a 16y/o with no food for 24 hours. They were Hopeless,
Then there's the $250pa for glasses, but when you get your glasses which by the way as a total spend are less than $250 but then the provider says they will only pay this much for lenses, this much for coatings, that much for frames, I'm still spending $100 out of my pocket.
And believe me, we weren't paying what most of you are paying because I had a corporate rate and got in many many years ago when there was a deal that froze premiums to the entry age.
At the end of the day, the deal is crook, the service is ordinary, it wasn't always like that but that's been our experience over the past few years.
We were facing the prospect of not being able to afford the gap between benefits and cost so cancelled the stupid thing, bumped up our trauma insurance and moved on
Worst thing they could have done is float on the stock market. they have to generate too much gravy for the investors, and I'm paying for that? forget it