cormaclynch

We have been granted our 175 last Monday and we are hoping to go to Australia at the start of July.

I'm just wondering if we are entitled to medical cover under the medicare scheme and if so how much does it cost?

And should we be loking into private medical care also or is medicare sufficient?

CHeers in advance for any info.

JoeBlogsOfOz

Of course you are entitled to Medicare like any other permanent resident or citizen. Private Insurance, however, depends if you are willing to pay for it. It also depends on how much you will be earning, because if you are earning above a certain threshold you will have to pay Medicare Levy Surcharge, which turns out to be almost the same as Private insurance premium, except that you don't have private insurance. Without complicating it too much, the short answer will be, Medicare Yes, Private Insurance pay for it if you need it and also consult your accountant on that.

cheers.

coolshadows

and the most important thing is ambulance cover.

Tubbs2Oz

Congrats on the visa.

Medicare itself doesn't cost anything. The various treatments cost different amounts. I was dreading taking my son to the hospital today expecting a bill of $300, but it was bulk billed so cost me nothing.
We have just taken out private medical, especially for ambulance cover and extras, dentists, opticians etc. but we kept the hospital cover to a minimum because medicare does cover a fair amount. It's all personal preference though. And like JoeBloggs said if you earn over a certain amount you have to pay tax potentially equivalent to the private insurance. (Approx $200-$260/month for family of 4)