A Sydney-based family is advocating for compulsory health insurance for people coming to Australia on a visitor visa.
Their concern comes after they had a personal experience of dealing with a massive medical bill that amassed during the treatment of a visiting family member.
Health insurance is meant to cover any medical conditions, injuries or accidents that may affect the policyholder.
But people often wonder if it is worth taking the risk of not having insurance cover.
Health experts say Australia’s medical system is one of the costliest in the world so you better have it.
This was brought home to the Singh family in Sydney when they battled both cancer and the trauma of its associated treatment costs.
The illness struck unexpectedly.
In March 2018, 64-year-old Kanwaljit Singh and his wife travelled to Australia from India.
Their son Harkanwalpreet Singh, who lives with his family in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill, had made health insurance arrangements prior to their arrival in Australia.
Kanwaljit Singh (L) has since recovered from blood cancer (Photo taken on 25 January, 2019) Source: SBS
Mr Singh told SBS Punjabi that only after two months of stay with the family his father was diagnosed with Leukemia - the blood cancer.
“It was shocking news for our family. My father was living a very healthy life until now. It was tragic to see this happen,” he said.
Harkanwalpreet Singh and his wife migrated to Australia about three years ago. Source: SBS
‘A terrible time’
Mr Singh said his father’s medical bills are now well over $550,000. But luckily, they were covered in full by their health insurer, Bupa.
“It was a terrible time to go through. But I am glad that we were here in Australia and more importantly, we had this insurance policy. Now we can breathe a sigh of relief,” he said.
“There was a lot of paperwork involved. We had to supply them all the fine details of my father’s health. To my understanding, the insurer wanted to make sure that it was not a pre-existing disease, and of course it was not in our case.”
Mr Singh said he is very thankful to the hospital staff and the insurance company who helped him when things were spiralling out of his control - both emotionally and financially.
“The medical system treated us very well. Over the last two years, we have so many positive stories to talk about, including the treatment and other support that we received from nurses, doctors and other specialists.”
Mr Singh who is working as a network engineer in a Sydney-based telecom company moved to Australia just three years ago from India.
Harkanwalpreet Singh at SBS Studios, Melbourne. Source: SBS
“I am already in love with Australia and its people. From my experiences, I can tell that the people and the systems support you when you need it the most,” he said.
“The hospitals didn’t look at our pockets but [focussed on] the treatment. It didn’t matter if my father was on a visitor visa. In fact, they supported us more after we explained our situation. A social worker was attached to our case and they helped us at various levels.”
Mr Singh is also appreciative of the company he has been working for over the last three years.
“Even my office people were very supportive. I was given flexible work arrangements, which also included the opportunity to work from home so that I could support my father who was recovering from illness.”
Prabhdeep Bhalla works in the insurance sector in Melbourne. Source: SBS
‘Don’t take it lightly’
Prabhdeep Bhalla has been working in the insurance sector for the last eight years. She strongly advises people travelling to Australia to have health cover.
“You shouldn’t take it lightly. It could be one of the most important decisions of your life,” she says.
Ms Bhalla suggested the policyholders should check all the terms and conditions very carefully.
“If you don’t understand, ask again. It is important that you understand its consequences,” she adds.
“The insurance becomes even more important when the visitors are in old age. They tend to be more prone to having health issues.”
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Previously, SBS Punjabi reported about six Indian-Australian families who learnt the importance of purchasing health insurance from Australian companies.
But they learnt this the hard way, after they had to either bear the costs of the medical treatment or their claims were rejected by the insurance companies in India.
Mr Singh said he wants to spread the message to "expect the unexpected".
Harkanwalpreet Singh wants to raise awareness about health-related issues in migrant communities. Source: Supplied
"No one knows the probability of getting sick. So better get an insurance policy from a reliable Australian company. It is better safe than sorry," he said.
“We don’t want to be a burden on Australia’s medical system. Even I would request the government to make health insurance compulsory for all the visitors and temporary visa holders.”
Mr Singh said he often tries to educate his own community about the importance of getting health insurance.
“Hospitals often struggle to deal with foreign insurers. So I suggest that it is better that you have it from an Australian company,” he added.
Mr Singh says strict privacy laws often restrict hospitals from sharing any health-related information with the foreign companies, causing problems for policyholders.
Kanwaljit Singh has recovered from cancer and is now living a healthy and active life. Source: SBS
"In our case, it was a bit easy and less stressful. The insurance company was directly dealing with the hospital to pay the bills," he said.
