Health insurance: do you and your family need it or don’t you? it’s a very expensive question. However if your employer is paying for your health insurance cover, you have a great opportunity to secure a long term financial win by adding your family members to your policy. Here are three reasons you should add your family to your provided health insurance cover today;
1. Your family can be covered for pre-existing conditions
Pre-existing conditions are health conditions, or related signs, symptoms and events that occur or exist before the start of your policy. So adding your family may mean healthcare visits you are paying for today may be able to be claimed back!
Most insurers in New Zealand will typically offer cover for pre-existing conditions in one of multiple ways depending on the insurer and the policy. How? they will either:
Charge an additional premium to cover the condition, or;
only cover the condition after a “stand-down” period. A stand down period means that cover will be available for the condition after your policy has been running for a set time, this is normally around three years, or;
Classify the condition as unable to be included.
Granted yours or your families condition is eligible, after adding your family to your cover they can start claiming back on current health conditions they have!
2. Cover for children can have significant financial benefits in the long run
The cost of health insurance premium’s for a child aged 0-21 can start from as little as $9 a week! More importantly if a child were to develop any health conditions whilst included in your policy, they will be financially covered for the rest of their lives. This is the reason why over 30% of New Zealand children have health insurance.
You can see why it is a wise decision for kids to have health insurance from an early age, and if it is easy to include them in your company provided plan then why not right? Also if you have a big family and worry about affording insurance for all of them, no worries! With Southern Cross and most insurers in NZ, you pay for 2 children and the rest are free.
3. They get the same access to unique offers, discounts and benefits
Health Insurance policy members get access to unique offers, discounts and benefits across different New Zealand brands. When you add family to your policy, they instantly have access to all the same great deals! For example; if you are on a Southern Cross, adding family members to you policy instantly gives them access to benefits including Lumino the Dentist, Specsavers,, Les Mills gym, the Eco Store, Pita Pit, Bloom Hearing and many more. Members also get discounts on premiums for other insurance such as life, pet and travel insurance.
So what are you waiting for?
Now you know it is a bit of a no brainer to include your family if you have been provided company health insurance... the next step is for an adviser to walk you through it. If your employer provides your policy using Folio, there are expert advisers here to help you add your family to your policy when you are ready! Click below and one of our advisers will be in touch right away
Disclaimer: Please note that the content provided in this article is intended as an overview and as general information only. While care is taken to ensure accuracy and reliability, the information provided is subject to continuous change and may not reflect current development or address your situation. Before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article, please use your discretion and seek independent guidance.