APRA application just Faxed

Hi uncleluck.

They said it was because they weren't satisfied that we couldn't afford it ourselves. I honestly don't know what else I could've shown them to convince them that we can't. I provided bank statements, stat decs etc. The only thing I didn't provide was a print out of our excel spreadsheet budget! It went to an independant reviewer whose handling of the whole thing was woeful and it ended in a formal complaint (I won't go into the details). In the end one of their suggestions was that we put the surgery on our credit card because we had the limit on the card to do so. There's a MASSIVE difference between having the limit (which we NEVER max out) and having the funds to repay that limit. They also said we should sell some of the shares that my husband's work gave him but in the next breath admitted that they don't take into account the 50% tax that we'd have to pay.

It was all round an awful experience, so much so that sometimes I just don't want to apply again. Surgery is going ahead though, thank goodness, my mother has sold some of HER shares at the 11th hour but I'd like to pay her back ideally. I just worry that if I apply again they'll look at my last application where they were SO SO adamant that we could afford it.



*sigh* sorry for the rant

Hi suzyhomemaker,sorry to hear that, whats was the reason, hopefully second time round you will be approved.

Congrats everyone on the approvals! Far out what did I do wrong in mine?! I'm going to reapply but it makes me wonder, with everyone else getting approved so quickly, what I did WRONG in mine!

Couldnt agree more Chris, APRA rang me yesterday and said one of my DR letters didnt say "life threatening". I faxed a new one this afternoon but am hoping i dont go to the bottom of the pile

Hallelujah!! I finally got my approval for my super to be released - almost a month after my surgery!!

The delay was my fault though - didn't make sure that the doctors letters both said it was a life threatening condition, so had to go get new letters and then wait for APRA to get around to assessing it for the second time.

Make sure everything is complete the first time, people, cos otherwise it takes forever!!

Cheers
Chris

Wow J that's awful!!!!!

I got the results of my sleep study yesterday afternoon - moderate sleep apnea and I rouse out of sleep every 2 mins. Sigh. Explains the bone numbing tiredness!

Hi J, thanks for the heads up, i got my appointment next week, i'll see how i go, but no ones going to stop me from having my op if i can help it.

uncleluck wrote:

Hi LizHaynes, no i do not have a date yet, my surgeon want me to get my sleep apnea sorted, then i have to go back in late dec or early jan to get thing going,but he thinks it should be march cause thats when my phi kicks in on the 1st.My first appointment for my sleep apnea to get the machine and go though the results is on the 13th of dec had to wait for five weeks to get in.

Here's my own experience with the sleep study and it may make you think twice before you go spend 1500-2500 on a cpap machine you "may" not even use..

My surgeon had me do a sleep study and it was found that I had mild sleep apnea, I then had to go in to the sleep centre and be setup on a month study to see if a CPAP would help my patterns and what was the best thing for me to do. After the month was up you have a meeting with the centre Dr. where she went through my results and what was I going to do to try and stop my apnea.. She ended up trying to blackmail me into purchasing one or to quote the Dr directly "I'll make sure you don't get your surgery because I can't say you'll be safe without it.." Geez god forbid I be fine without the CPAP machine when I've only been sleeping every night for the last 26 years without one loll

Now I must first of all say I wasn't totally against using the CPAP machine at all.. My surgeon only ever wanted me to have one around due to the apnea and you can have issues with coming out of the anesthetic etc.. As I'm sure many of you know. But in my case I had 0 symptoms of sleep apnea and even when I used the CPAP machine on the trial I felt no better for using it and really saw it as pretty pointless to buy something I wasn't getting anything out of.

The thing that really made me angry was the fact the Dr at the Sleep centre was literally trying to hold me at ransom of "Buy this or its not happening.." Which was definitely not the case at all and when I spoke to my surgeon needless to say he wasn't amused and gave me permission to tell them where to go, which I gladly did. :)

I then basically just went and hired one from Samsung I think it was.. and explained to them I might not even end up using it, and so a month after my operation I took it back 100% unused.

I rang on the wed 16th of nov got told i was approved, that morning and receive my approval letter two days after. I would ring them and find out if its been sent.

Wow! Approved on the 28th and still waiting on the letter - how long did yours take

I have heard of some people renting the machines but I dont know where they get them from or how much it costs. They are not cheap to buy :(
Probably better to wait for the PHI gto kick in I suppose. Not that they give you much help with the cost of a CPAP machine tho...think we got $350 back from $2000 for the machine and hardly worth remembering for the mask :(
But then we were thru HBA and your PHI might be different. Also it was a few years ago.
Sucks you had to wait 5 weeks to get the results too

Hi LizHaynes, no i do not have a date yet, my surgeon want me to get my sleep apnea sorted, then i have to go back in late dec or early jan to get thing going,but he thinks it should be march cause thats when my phi kicks in on the 1st.My first appointment for my sleep apnea to get the machine and go though the results is on the 13th of dec had to wait for five weeks to get in.

Uncleluck have you got a date for surgery yet??

Congrats Briohne!

Hey Briohne! Congrats on the approval even if it isn't the full amount. At least your know you can go right ahead!

Fantastic news! and a relieffor you i'd say!!

Next step is sugery - how exciting!

Heres hoping mine is approved too!

There was a fee for icy IF you need it - they wantclarity around it - your meant to pay it upfront and get reimbursed if it's not used

Good Lord!! What part of sleeve surgery is optional?!?!?!

Approved!!! B not the full amount as the quote said optional next to part. That's ok - I'm $2000 short but will borrow that from my friend and pay her back :-) very happy!

hi, welcome to melbourne, hope your enjoy this cold melbourne weather, anyway good luck with apra, hope its good news.

David

I hadn't rung them yet - I am actually in Melbourne for the eminem concert, I just got back to my hotel room - I will never again be the fattest friend at the concert! I'm going to ring them in the morning

Hi briohne, any news yet.

Sounds promising! Hope it comes through soon!

I rang today and spoke to a supervisor, and they are going to make mine a priority on account of all my foster kids being booked into respite for the surgery period. Yay yay yay!!! Hopefully this means an answer sooner rather than later.

Thank you loulou22! That's really comforting! The only thing they might query is my income - I'm a foster carer so I get an allowance, that is not included as income, but my expenses are obviously greater than my declared income.... Anyway I am sure that they will ring me if they have queries. Hmmm loaded today! That's so reassuring! We will soon see