Posted on May 13, 2012 by admin

Life Insurance Quotes Help People Find the Right Life Cover

All the Australian comparison websites offer customers information, life insurance quotes and tool which will help to establish the cheapest price and right coverage. When you have entered a website that provides life insurance quotes, just enter your area code to start the process. This way you save time and money and have the option to find the best life cover which you can purchase directly online. Make sure you only deal with a well known reputable Australian life insurance company. Reputable and financially stable insurance companies offer the best deals.

There are many Australian life insurance companies, of which not all are reputable like anywhere else in the world. Many of the insurance companies in Australia have been around for many years and have earned their reputations like www.medicareaustralia.gov.au whereas new insurance companies still need to earn their reputations. All life insurance quotes sent out online are from long standing reputable life insurance concerns. Always check to make sure the company is licensed and registered to sell life insurance packages.

Also ensure that the insurance company you intend purchasing your life cover from provides good support and customer services. In as far as claims processing is concerned, make sure the insurance company will provide an efficient service. The way to establish this is by reading comments that customers have posted online. Hop online today and request life insurance quotes now that you have an idea of what to look for!

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Posted on May 13, 2012 by admin

Why Should You Compare Life Insurance Quotes?

Ok so you believe that its time you took a life insurance policy. You think that all the insurance companies are the same and that it is enough if you get a quote from one life insurance Company and purchase the policy. Think again. Drops of water make an ocean, purchasing an insurance policy is not a one day affair. You have to pay the company premiums month after month or year after year. Even if you were to save five dollars each month on the premium think of how much you would save on a 30 year policy. That comes to roughly $1800, now think where you could invest that amount and earn more interest, so you see it does really add up.

You may think that getting life insurance quotes from different companies and comparing them with each other is a time consuming task and you don’t really have time like that. Moreover you would have the insurance agent from every company all over you to purchase his company’s policy. But now times have changed, you can stay anonymous and collect the life insurance quotes from 10 different companies at the same time. How is this possible? With the help of the internet and some great websites like www.australia.gov.au/ .

What you do need to remember is that you should compare apples to apples meaning you should give the same information like coverage you are looking for, benefits you need etc. and collect quotes for the same type of policies.

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Posted on May 13, 2012 by admin

Compare Life Insurance Quotes To Suit Your Family Needs

The financial needs of family differ from one to another. If you are taking out a life insurance for self and spouse then you need to assess your financial requirements, compare Life Insurance Quotes at www.fahcsia.gov.au and calculate expected living costs in the future.

Start by noting down all your current expenses and expected costs for future living. This should include mortgage payments, children’s education, health expenses of the survivor etc. This will give you an idea on what is the level of coverage you should decide on. The list of your expenses should not only include major debts and purchases but also daily requirements like food, clothing, credit card payment etc. As the amount of payout you may be looking for at the end of the term increases you may need to go for comprehensive coverage. This would mean a sizeable increase in the amount of premium to be paid each year. A thumb rule to remember is the insurance with the highest payout is not necessarily the best life insurance. There are other things to consider like premium affordability, inclusion of terminal illness clause etc.

In addition life insurances have restrictions, exclusions and limitations. For example if the policy holder gets injured or dies while participating in dangerous recreational activities like skydiving or bungee jumping he / she or the nominee will not be entitled to receive the benefits. Some companies have set rules to the number of months or years that have to pass for the policy to be effective.

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Posted on April 20, 2012 by opticals

Face of Birth petition


From the Face of Birth website
Online petition supports women's choice in childbirth!

09-Apr-2012

Every woman has the right to decide where, how and with whom she gives birth, but not all women have the same access to funding. If you would like to help change that in Australia, then please sign the petition and spread the word. It only takes a minute!
Readers of this blog will probably know about Face of Birth, and are likely to have signed the petition. IF you haven't, please take a moment CLICK HERE and sign this petition. The number of signatures today is approaching the 500 mark.The Petition site gives people the opportunity to write a comment as to why they signed, which provides an interesting and thought-provoking sub-text to the petition. Here are a few:

 Dr Kirsten Small from Nambour Qld:
Women should not be put in a position where they have to chose between birth at home without a skilled care provider, or the limited menu of options on offer in our hospital.
Denise Hynd, and Australian midwife who has moved to New Zealand:
I will come and practice midwifery when this petition is successful!!
Sally-Anne Brown from Vic
Bring Birth Back Home on Country
Jodi Johnson from Wights Mountain
Because this country is sooo backward in supporting normal birth - through supporting midwifery models.
Michelle Fulcher of Balgownie
Australia's Maternity System is BROKEN and heading towards a more American model will only make it worse and increase the maternity mortality rates!! Look at New Zealand and be BRAVE enough to give Australian women & babies the same protected rights!!! We'll no longer have doctor shortages and midwives will come flocking back!
Bev Walker of Venus Bay Vic
I gave up on the women in the ALP on this issue. Senator Siewert became our hero and one of the few who got it. My first solution would be to get rid of the advisers to the Health Minister and put anyone of several home birth women and midwives in to their place.
Susan Cudlpp from High Wycombe
I am signing because this is a basic truth. Birthing choices are a human right which is being eroded steadily from the lives of Australian women. Women in this country have less and less choice, the medical monopoly exerts more and more power and midwives are unsupported and unprotected.
Marg Phelan from Casuarina NT
Women have the right to birth where they choose and with whom they want. They need to be supported in their choice with Midwives who are fully supported by the Dept of health with Medicare and Insurance. 

Lisa O'Connell from Wentworthville
Because I wanted a homebirth more than anything, but just couldn't afford it on our own! 


The following Comment is from the writer of this post, Joy Johnston


‘Choice’ is a slippery entity that easily moves out of reachwhen in reality the woman’s access to a particular model of care, or a place ina birth centre or even birth at home is easily overruled by other factors –availability, wealth, service provision and the mother’s or baby’s healthstatus.  In fact, the only real choice awoman has in birth is if she accepts and works in harmony with her body’snatural processes, and finds professional support that will not interferewithout a valid reason.

‘Choice’ that is limited by wealth and private healthinsurance is not choice at all.  Awoman who chooses maternity care in a private hospital because she has socalled ‘health’ insurance that covers this option may be surprised when shediscovers that this choice increases her chances of medical and surgicalinterventions, and decreases her chances of normal birth.  Those who want normal birth can beappropriately supported by a known midwife who is skilled in protecting wellnessin birthing. 

Many of us have been part of the birth reform movement for a long time, in which midwives and consumers have joined together in the ‘choice’ refrain. Now I feel we have been wrong.I think that rather than women's choice we should be demanding the right of the midwife to practise midwifery. If a community has midwives, women can give birth in that community. If a community doesn’t have midwives, or the midwives in the community are shackled to a system that doesn’t even respect the midwife, women can talk about rights and it means nothing. 

A woman really only has one choice: Plan A - DIY (do it yourself), or ask someone else to take over.
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Posted on April 17, 2012 by opticals

SMSF – Is a Self Managed Super Fund Right For You? How to Get Started

SMSFs or Self Managed Superannuation Funds are a bit of a buzz word at the moment.   Given that there are almost 500,000 SMSF’s in Australia that have more than $400billion in assets, you can understand why.  Current growth will see about 90 new funds set up every single day or about 30,000 new funds per [...]
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Posted on April 9, 2012 by opticals

our purpose

This statement of purpose has been drafted by the APMA committee, in discussion with members and supporters.

The (Draft) purpose of Australian Private Midwives' Association (APMA) is  
To represent and support midwives who practise privately in any setting

In functioning as the national body representing midwives who are in private practice, APMA seeks

• To respond to issues related to private practice midwives
• To present the needs of private practice midwives to the regulatory authority – eg to ensure that midwives’ peers are used as experts in investigations and hearings
• To lobby in the political sphere, in response to current issues
• To support and care for members in a non-judgemental way, with flexibility to respond to different people and situations
• To share information with members and the wider community

Note: Private midwifery practice encompasses the full scope of practice that is open to midwives registered in Australia, and is not limited to the setting of practice, such as homebirth, or funding for practice, such as Medicare-eligibility.

Your comments and discussion are welcome.
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Posted on March 20, 2012 by opticals

Where are the midwives who practise privately?

[The following brief overview of private midwifery options is anecdotal, incomplete, and reported in good faith, knowing that situations change constantly.]

Western Australia
There are currently 11 Medicare-eligible midwives in WA, but how many are actually practising at the moment I’m not sure.  Some will do homebirths but others are only doing intrapartum care in hospital. 

There are currently no admittance/access rights for eligible midwives, so care in hospital is usually achieved through an arrangement by which the midwife is casually employed by WA health when she does the intrapartum care in hospital. WA Health are currently developing an access agreement.

There are 3 or 4 other privately practicing midwives in Metro Perth and two in the South West. I don’t think any are currently doing VBACs at home.  Some are only taking repeat clients. 



South Australia
The options in SA are limited because almost all of the midwives live in a similar geographical area. Most of us travel but it still is limited. Of the 9 working and taking on clients, 6 live in the Adelaide Hills and the next one coming into it also live up here.  There are 3 who are Medicare eligible, 1 eligible midwife about to start, 3 who are not eligible but are registered. 


Homebirth SA Blog
Facebook

Victoria
Midwives in Private Practice (MiPP) is a collective of midwives, and a participating organisation in Maternity Coalition. MiPP members work in Group Practices, partnerships, and solo practices, providing private midwifery services for women planning homebirth, as well as hospital births. MiPP members also mentor other midwives who are commencing private practice. Although Victoria is a relatively small State, there are areas where no private midwifery services can be accessed.

Recent government-funded homebirth programs have been offered for selected women through Sunshine and Casey Hospitals.

One Victorian Medicare-eligible midwife has completed a medications course which has been accepted by AHPRA. However, Victorian legislation needs to be changed before midwives are able to take up the PBS reforms.

InMelbourne more and more doctors are saying "no" to women who request referral or another pathway so that the woman can receive the Medicarerebate.  The government’sreform is pretty empty if women can’t even access Medicare rebates.  An obstetrician at the local hospital told me “I don’t support that model”

MiPP blog
List of MiPP midwives

New South Wales
Northern NSW - there were about 8 midwives attending homebirths a few years ago, with maybe 3 being private practice (PPM) only, and the other midwives also working in public hospitals. Now there are no PPMs-only in this region, but there is one midwife who attends some homebirths and is also employed in a hospital, and one other midwife who is Medicare eligible and attends some homebirths and is also a caseload midwife.There is another PPM who lives on the Gold Coast Qld and travels to the region. We have also had a govt funded homebirth program approved here which should be up and running shortly. That may impact further on numbers of births available for PPMs. 
Marie Heath (Goulburn)

Queensland
Toowoomba-Ipswich My Midwives offer women the choice of 4 midwives in Toowoomba and 2 in Ipswich.  We also have a lactation consultant who just does lactation privately but is an eligible midwife (provides antenatal and labour as an employee in hospital).  Women can choice place of birth (home, birth centre, public hospital).  They only receive a Medicare rebate for birth for birth centre or public hospital.  They receive Medicare rebates for antenatal and postnatal care no matter where they have their baby.  Many of the private funds provide a rebate for some element of the woman’s care as well if the woman has private health insurance. 

We bulk bill completely women attending Young Women’s Place for antenatal and postnatal care and we can attend women admitted as public patients under a fractional employment model with the hospital.  The tendency though is not to admit women as public patients unless we have to because we do find that having them admitted as the primary client of the midwife rather than as a public patient makes a difference in terms of autonomy in the woman’s care.

We have a signed collaborative agreement with Toowoomba public hospital obstetricians.  In practice one of us [midwives] meets with them fortnightly to discuss any issues we have or we book women in at a specific time for a referral or consultation.  At the time of admission the women are admitted in the care of (or “under”) the primary midwife and we consult if/as required with one of the obstetricians.  For women birthing at home, we just attend as normal and let the hospital know if we have any dramas.
My Midwives

For more links to websites of privately practising midwives, go to Midwives Australia
Filed in collaboration, eligible midwife, homebirth, maternity care, Maternity Coalition, Medicare, midwife, private midwifery | Comments Off
Posted on March 19, 2012 by opticals

Where are the midwives?

[For a rough estimate of distance, think of a red dot as 100Kilometers]
























Several years ago the Federal Opposition Health spokesperson made a speech to midwives. She saidthat midwives have:

“limited opportunities to practise as primary carers and provide continuity of care to women”and

“Unless and until the Government is shocked and shamed into realising that Australian women … ”and

“I believe that midwives … are key heath care professionals whose role in the care of women and their babies has yet to be fully realised in the Australian health care system” 

The speech was to the Annual conference Midwifery By The Sea - Riding The Waves Of Change of the New South Wales Midwives Association, 20th October 2005.  The speaker was the woman who went on to become Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard. Here's a little more from that speech:
"Clearly this is no time for turf warfare between doctors and midwives, but it is time for all health care professionals involved in delivering obstetrics care to mount a combined attack on the Howard Government to force them into action to address this situation.Unless and until the Government is shocked and shamed into realising that Australian women are now scrambling to find the birthing centre of their choice, and in some cases scrambling to find any professional who will deliver their child, the situation will not improve."
The [Rudd-] Gillard government have brought in maternity reform, as readers of this and other maternity-related sites will know all too well. Ms Gillard declared in 2005 that "this is no time for turf warfare between doctors and midwives ..."YET this government delivered the virtual control of private midwifery practice to doctors, in the form of a piece of legislation called the Collaboration Determination.

The words (mainly) of the PM herself ring true:
"it is time for all health care professionals involved in delivering [maternity] care to mount a combined attack on the [Gillard] Government to force them into action to address this situation." 


This month, APMA has conducted a brief review of private midwifery services, asking midwives and maternity consumers to tell us what's on offer where they live.

Here are the current trends:
  • Areas with access to private midwifery services are mainly the [more densely populated] capital cities and a few regional centres, as demonstrated on the map. 
  • Established midwifery practices that have taken up Medicare rebate options since November 2010 continue to provide homebirth services. 
  • Homebirth, which has been predominantly the domain of private midwifery practice in Australia for many years, is increasingly being made available through publicly funded hospital-based programs. 
  • Established midwifery practices that have continued without Medicare rebates are providing homebirth and other private services in their communities. 
  • The emergence of new private midwifery practices with Medicare includes some providing midwifery care across the prenatal and postnatal periods, with hospital births, while others a focus on postnatal services. 
  • Progress towards hospital visiting access for private midwives has been noted in Toowoomba (Qld) and Sydney (NSW). 
  • Unregulated birth attendants are reported to be available to provide homebirth services in some areas. 

In many areas, women are still "scrambling to find the birthing centre of their choice, and in some cases scrambling to find any professional who will deliver their child." 

The new rules present midwives and the women who employ us with unnecessary obstacles when attempting to comply with legislated requirements for collaboration.  There is no public interest in these new rules.  The health and wellbeing of women and their babies is not improved by the hurdles they are now required to jump.  Some women are choosing to forgo the Medicare rebate than have to go to an unsympathetic doctor, cap in hand, requesting a referral to their chosen midwife.

It's time for women and midwives to take Julia's own advice, and  "mount a combined attack on the Gillard Government to force them to address this situation."
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Posted on February 10, 2012 by opticals

The Top 2 Mistakes When Buying a Home

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you can make.  But when you’re in the market for a new home, how do you know whether you’ve found ‘the one’?  Ensuring that you make the right decision when buying a home is an important decision both emotionally and financially.  Given the financial and [...]
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Posted on February 2, 2012 by opticals

Financial New Years Resolutions for 2012

With a New Year now upon us, we have the opportunity for a fresh start.  For many of us there’s no better place to start than a re-think of the household finances.  In light of this, our financial planners in Sydney have put together their top list for getting your finances on track in 2012. [...]
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