HBF

Breaking Up With My Health Insurer.

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When a loyal customer informs you that they will be taking their business elsewhere for sake of better value for money, you would think that the appropriate response would be to do everything possible to convince you to stay.

When I walked into my local HBF branch on Friday to do just that, the member service advisor (who actually had a connection to diabetes) simply told me that she completely understood.

I’d be lying if I said that I don’t feel a little stung by the health insurer that my family have been loyal to for as long as I can remember. I can remember impatiently waiting at the HBF branch at Karrinyup on many occasions as a kid when my parents had claims issues to deal with. When my Mum and Dad brought me to HBF after I first commenced full time work to take out a policy of my own, I did not even think about choosing anyone else to look after my health.

I genuinely liked that HBF were a West Australian business, with a family feel to it. There were plenty of local branches nearby where I could go and talk to an actual person, rather than deal with a matter over the phone with the call centre on the East Coast. We haven’t ever had a problem with them over the years.

However along with insulin pumps, HBF no longer covers dialysis, cochlear implants and surgical weight loss procedures on basic tier hospital policies. Meanwhile, I can receive claims or discounts for ‘wellness’ products and services which have no value to me on my health cover.

I find it ridiculous that I am forced to have my health insurance cover packaged with other products and services that I have no use for. Admittedly, my new health insurer is no different either. In an ideal world I would go into a branch, tell the insurer what I need coverage for, and have a package that is tailored to my own individual needs.

Over the four year lifespan of my insulin pump, my current premiums (inclusive of the 25% rebate contributed by the federal government) have covered roughly 60% of its cost. Not to mention that many people would not be upgrading their insulin pumps as soon as the four year warranty period is up. Moreso at the moment as we are waiting patiently for the new pump options to hit our shores (watch this space).

Of all people with diabetes, those with type 1 who are the predominant users of insulin pump therapy represent only 11%. Of those 11%, I believe that insulin pumpers would be in the minority. They weren’t encouraged or talked about by my own healthcare professionals. I only came to know more about them from talking to other people with diabetes – and that, in itself, was a massive step for me to make.

I have now broken up with HBF, a decision which will save me at least $550 per year. Diabetes is one awfully expensive condition that I did not ask to get, and I can think of hundreds of other things that I would much rather put that money towards each year.

But for now, I will happily divert that extra $550 per year toward things like insulin pump consumables, batteries, test strips, hypo treatments and insulin. 

As Elaine would say, “you just lost a customer!”

(Clearly, you can tell that I’ve been binging on far too much Seinfeld at the moment…)

Insurance, Insurance.

1 Comment

I’m currently shopping around for health insurance. I don’t feel as though I can do this post any justice given that I have not come to any conclusions yet. So I’m offering you one long, conclusion-less post instead.

So, I said that I was shopping around for health insurance.

Why? Because HBF, my current insurer, have recently announced that insulin pumps will no longer be covered on lower tier hospital policies. A visit to my branch recently revealed that it will now cost me an extra $500 a year to retain that coverage for my pump.

My excess for a stay in hospital will also jump from $100 to $500, which is insane considering that I could just as easily admit myself to hospital as a public patient and pay nothing!

I’m a young, healthy adult. I don’t claim a lot. I can’t remember the last time I went to hospital. There’s a good chance that I won’t even need any of the additional extras included on that mid hospital policy. It sucks that there’s not an add on where I could just pay solely for insulin pump coverage. I’m simply being penalised for having diabetes, a health condition that I didn’t ask for.

I am really sad about the possibility of leaving HBF, given that they are West Australian owned, not for profit, and have plenty of branches around the place where I can visit and speak to an actual person – rather than someone in a call centre on the East Coast. Maybe I am being too hard. Is an extra $500 a year such a bad deal for the $10,000 device that I’m getting in return?

I will need a new insulin pump when my upgrade is due in two years time. With Animas going out of business, the day will come where consumables to service my late Vibe will no longer be available. I suspect that new pump options may be rolled out to eligible Animas customers sooner rather than later. Not to mention that if the Vibe packs up after my four year warranty period has lapsed, I won’t get a replacement. So, pump coverage is really not optional.

Another option is to remain on my current level of cover, which would see me lose my insulin pump coverage, and revisit the issue in 12 months. If I waited until then to upgrade, I would likely need to serve out a 12 month waiting period that would be completed just in time for my pump upgrade in May 2020.

But as I said, I highly doubt that Animas will have the capacity to service in warranty pumps for up to another four years. I suspect that new pump options may be rolled out to eligible Animas pumpers sooner rather than later. With last week’s announcement of Tandem’s tslim touch screen insulin pump finally hitting our shores later this year, that is one boat that I do not want to miss.

Then there’s the option of searching for a new health insurer. Yes, other health insurers do cover insulin pumps on lower tier hospital policies. You do need to ring them up and ask though, given that pumps aren’t commonly listed on health insurance websites. Of course, there’s always the possibility that they may make changes to insulin pump coverage in the future, leaving me with the same dilemma to deal with.

I have been following the many health insurance conversations going on in Facebook groups, and speaking to some friends with diabetes. But the reality is that everyone has different needs, so I can’t really compare what someone else pays for health insurance with my own policy.

So, now I am left trying to compare apples with apples. Comparing what I have covered on my current hospital policy, with offers from other health insurers. Thinking about what I need, and what I don’t need from my health insurance.

Safe to say, my brain is fried.

Ironically, I also happened to pull my pump off over the weekend.

So maybe I won’t be needing a new one after all…