A Guide to Health Insurance for Heart Disease Patients

Health insurance is an important safety net for every average person because you never know when an ailment may suddenly strike. If you’re a cardiac patient, you’ll especially want to make sure you have the right coverage to handle additional services you’ll need beyond an annual physical. We’ll take a closer look at some of what you’ll need to understand about insurance coverage in Australia to help you in your quest for better heart health.

Public vs. Private Insurance

When it comes to health coverage, it’s important to remember that Australia has a hybrid insurance system in place. This allows for people of all ages to rely on the public health system, or Medicare, to handle treatment in public hospitals and outpatient clinics. While this is commonplace for helping deal with cardiovascular health, Australia has encouraged those who can afford to get private health insurance to do so. Those who do that no longer have to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge, a tax for those above a certain income who are using public health care. This is in order to help alleviate some of the pressure on that system.

Private health insurance allows for patients to get their choice of doctors, including specialists. This could give a patient battling cardiovascular disease some peace of mind in knowing they have options in their overall health care plan. It’s important to check your insurance plan for any exclusions regarding specialty coverage. For example, a heart attack patient could be covered for immediate care in their hospital, but aftercare in an out-of-network cardiology office may not be protected.

Hospital Coverage

Patients who are covered by private health insurance will opt for a certain hospital cover under their plan. Different health funds will have different inclusions and exclusions. These are tiered at four levels of health plan: basic, bronze, silver, and gold. If you’re dealing with high blood pressure levels, a basic hospital policy covers you only as a private patient in a public hospital. In the health insurance marketplace, these are usually at a lesser premium for basic palliative care. Those dealing with more complex cardiovascular health issues may want a more complex health plan.

Bronze hospital coverage is actually designed to cover treatments for issues like hypertension, high cholesterol, and circulatory problems with blood flow. Silver coverage tacks on additional cover for heart health and human services. While a silver hospital health plan will cover those treatments at an additional cost, gold coverage is the highest tier that expands treatment and care possibilities into clinical trials and other developing possibilities to better your overall health in the long run.

Extras Coverage

When it comes to any health issue or heart problem, you want to make sure you have the best safety net for your situation. The good news is that extras cover can help you address emergency care and beyond. This goes beyond services provided by Medicare and Medicaid, allowing for additional health insurance through three categories: comprehensive, medium, and basic. Extras policies through a vendor will help heart patients cover any physiotherapy resulting from something like a heart attack or poor blood flow.

These may branch into pharmaceutical coverage and discounted prices on medications for blood pressure pills and other prescription meds. However, you may want to get some medical advice from your doctor or specialist about a more natural health supplement to better your heart health. BloodPressure 911 works on lowering hypertension in a natural way, with the help of niacin and folate, along with vitamins C, B6, and B12. By reducing blood pressure, this blend, in turn, helps blood vessel health. Paired with proper diet and exercise, this can help to lower cholesterol as well, making for better cardiovascular health and a brighter tomorrow.