Liberty Life
New Zealand
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If the money you earn each year fluctuates, you should consider ACC CoverPlus Extra.
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Are the premiums becoming unaffordable? Is your life assurance policy designed to be in force at death? Do you want your premiums back?
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For most New Zealanders, the largest financial commitment will be their mortgage. It is important therefore to protect the asset and lifestyle it can provide.
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health/medical insurance
Why you need to seriously consider health and medical insurance
More than 1.38 million New Zealanders now have health insurance. Why? Because like any other insurance it provides peace of mind in times of difficulty.
Do you want to stand by for weeks or months on a public waiting list to get medical treatment? Health insurance will help give you access to the very best medical care at a time that suits you, in the hospital of your choice.
We are fortunate in New Zealand to have a good public system for emergency treatment or old-age care. But if you don’t require immediate treatment, then you will need to go through an assessment process in the public system before you qualify for elective surgery, and this process can take months, even years.
Your alternatives are either to pay privately for the procedure, at huge cost, or to have medical insurance to cover the full expense of your elective surgery and hospitalisation.
You can’t tell what health problems may affect you in the future, and you can’t foresee how they will impact on your family, your lifestyle and your earning ability. That’s why you need health insurance.
Private health insurers last year funded more elective surgery procedures than the Government at a cost of $700 million.
The best time to buy health insurance is when you are young and healthy with no pre-existing health conditions and when premiums are most affordable.
To make premiums more affordable there are a range of excess options, which can discount your premiums.
There are also different plans ranging from your basic surgical, hospital plan to a more comprehensive one, which covers specialists and the cost of diagnostic tests, irrespective of whether they lead to hospitalisation.
How to keep premiums affordable?
It is best to buy health insurance when you are young and healthy. Pre-existing conditions can lead to premium loadings or exclusions.
Choose an excess option which discounts the premium and helps you to control the premium increases in the future.
Choose the base plan that comprehensively covers all hospitalisation and surgical procedures and add the extra specialist and diagnostic option if you can afford it.
Click here to get a real-time quote on health insuranceThere when you need us
The cost of surgery is increasing and much of this is due to medical inflation coupled with huge advancements being made in medical technology. Even if you could save the money needed for a hip replacement, by the time you need it could your savings keep up with the increasing cost?
The table below gives you an indication of costs of some common elective procedures
| Common procedures | Indicative cost range as at March 2008 (inc GST) |
|---|---|
| Cardiac bypass (heart surgery) | $30,000 - $40,000 |
| Valve replacement (heart surgery) | $33,000 - $50,000 |
| Angiogram (diagnostic test) | $3,900 - $4,400 |
| Angioplasty without stents (heart surgery) | $13,000 - $15,000 |
| Total hip replacement (surgery) | $15,000 - $22,000 |
| Prostate removal (cancer surgery) | $8,000 - $13,000 |
| Radical mastectomy (breast cancer surgery) | $4,000 - $9,000 |
| Laprascopic hysterectomy (surgery) | $8,000 - $10,000 |
| Laprascopic excision of endometriosis (surgery) | $3,700 - $6,000+ |
Source: Health Funds Association of New Zealand 2008
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Contact us
Please contact Michael or Gwyn Gray to discuss your insurance concerns. We promise you the best possible advice.
