You may have questions about joining Westfund Health Insurance or about your Westfund membership. In this section there are some answers to common questions you may find helpful but please feel free to call your local branch on 1300 552 132 or email: enquiries@westfund.com.au for more information.

People with private health insurance have the peace of mind that comes with knowing they can be covered for medical treatments when and if they become necessary. Private health insurance can mean greater choice of doctor, access to a private or public hospital and possibly a shorter wait for some forms of elective (non-urgent) surgery.

Private health insurance can also assist you to avoid the additional 1% Medicare levy surcharge if you are a higher income earner (provided you have appropriate private hospital cover).

You can join Westfund straight away. Call 1300 552 132 or log onto www.westfund.com.au Find the cover to suit your lifestyle through our website links or talk to one of our friendly consultants by phone or in branch at one of our regional locations in Lithgow, Mudgee, Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Wollongong, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Emerald and Moranbah.

Transferring from another health fund is simple. If you want to move from one fund to another, you will not have to re-serve waiting periods if you transfer to a policy that is at the same or a lower level of benefit. Westfund will give you continuity for the waiting periods you have already served. However, if your new policy includes new or higher benefits that were not part of your old policy, you will have to wait for those benefits.

If you join Westfund Health Insurance and do not have current private health insurance, you will have a waiting period before being eligible for health fund benefits.

If you already have health cover, but are transferring to a higher level of cover, waiting periods may apply for all additional benefits.

If you join Westfund within 30 days of cancelling your health cover with another health fund, (where waiting period requirements were met), you do not need to re-serve these waiting periods.

A pre-existing condition is a medical condition, signs or symptoms of which were considered to have been in existence at any time during the 6 months preceeding the day on which the member joined Westfund or upgraded to a higher level of Westfund cover.

If you take out Westfund Health Insurance and you are eligible for Medicare, the federal government will give you 30%, 35% or 40% back on your premium. You may elect to reduce the premium as you go, claim it with your yearly tax return or claim a cash refund from Medicare.

The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is levied on payers of Australian tax who do not have private hospital cover and who earn above a certain income. The surcharge aims to encourage individuals to take out private health cover, and where possible, to use the private system to reduce the demand on the public system.

If you are a family or couple with a taxable income after reportable fringe benefits of more than $160,000 (increasing by $1,500 for each eligible child after the first) a year or a single with a taxable income after reportable fringe benefits of more than $80,000 a year, your Medicare Levy can increase by 1% of your taxable income. However, you can easily avoid the additional surcharge by joining one of Westfund’s Hospital covers.

This scheme became effective on 1st July 2000. New members to private health insurance hospital cover pay a loading of 2%on the base rate premium for the hospital cover they select for each year their age exceeds 30. Once you have paid a LHC loading on your private hospital insurance for 10 continuous years, the loading is removed as long as you retain your hospital cover.

You must have the original receipts for all claims that you submit online. All claims will require receipts to be mailed in after completing the online claims submission process. Please follow the below steps to submit an online claim;

• You will have already visited www.westfund.com.au
• From here you visit the ‘Members Area’
• Then select the ‘Make a claim’ option
• Select ‘yes’ to displaying the items
• Read through the terms and conditions
• If you agree to this, and the claim meets the online claiming requirements, select the ‘Proceed to make a claim’
• Once again read and agree to the terms and conditions
• You will then be at the screen where you are required to fill-in the details and click the submit button of your choice
• Your claim submission will the be complete
• Record/Print the Transaction ID for your further reference
• Mail the original receipts that support the online submission to:
  
  Internet Services Dept
  Westfund
  Reply Paid 235
  Lithgow NSW 2790