I posted this on the immigration forum, but I thought maybe some of you out there have some practical advice as well so here goes.

It looks like I will be applying for a 457 instead of a 163, and i'm a bit confused about health care. I have seen some people are having to pay about $300 p.m and others are paying $110 p.year for extra cover, but are covered initially by medicare. can anybody shed some light on this for me .

Also, does a 457 need to be validated within 1 year or do other rules apply.

Hi

We're travelling out on a 457 Visa at the end of the month. There is a reciprocal (sp?) agreement with Oz and the UK regarding health care but it will only cover you for emergencies. It is stated that apparently the employer should arrange any medical insurance while on a 457 Visa but we're not really sure as to what level that is. My husands employer has advised that we need to obtain it and has given us an estimated figure of $4500 per annum which is for a family of 3. We haven't looked into it any further as yet.

I know that there are quite a few on here who have experience with the 457 Visa so no doubt you'll get a lot more replies when those in Oz get out of bed!

Hope this helps.

Rach xxxx

Thanks for the reply Rach, not really what I wanted to hear.

lets hope somebody on the other side of the world can cheer me up

Hi
We are in Perth on a 457... here's the official notes what your employer should do as they are sposoring you.

pay all medical or hospital expenses for a sponsored person arising from treatment adminstered in a public hospital (other than expenses that are met by health insurance or reciprocal health care arrangements) - this undertaking continues until any such expenses are paid

You can read more at. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/sponsor_temp_emp_3.htm

Neil.

The arrangements on a 457 are laid down by DIMA

http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/tem...s-employer.htm

In summary your employer is obligated to pay all medical or hospital expenses for an employee (and accompanying family member) for treatment in a public hospital (other than expenses that are met by health insurance or reciprocal health care arrangements) this undertaking continues until all expenses are paid

So if anything other than emergency/bog standard treatment is required the employer is liable, eg known medical conditions for a family member that requires ongoing treatment.

Usually to offset this potential cost employers make it part of your conditions to work that you pay for private medical insurance or if very lucky they provide it.

Some people on 457 collect a medical card and happily never need anything other than a couple of standard doctors appointment. So if the employer does not insist on private medical you can make the decision not to take extra cover.

In our case a daughter with hearing impairment needed to be covered with private medical the company provided. Lucky for us before we swopped over onto our 136 PR we had no real medical emergencies. Since then I have had some semi serious woman issues and my husband has had skin cancer treatment and we have used some other health services none of which would have been covered on reciprocal.

Different folks on this site on 457 have also be fortunate enough to get certain treatments covered by reciprocal and I haven't heard of big demands on their companies to pay costs back. Not sure how the government follow up on use of the medicare card obviously use of this is tracked and whether they only step in if the expense goes over a certain amount?

So not sure if this is good or bad news....we have pretty decent private health care for a family of 4 for around $350 per month. And if you earn over a certain amount this will save you the higher medicare levy which for me would be around $100 a month so in effect a saving towards getting private medical.


FYI
What is the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS)?
Individuals and families on higher incomes, who do not have private patient hospital cover (including their dependants and their spouse if they have one), may be liable to pay the MLS for any period during 2004-05 that they did not have this cover.

The surcharge is 1% of their taxable income. It is additional to the 1.5% Medicare levy.

Long and Boring Post Sorry

I'm hopefully headng to Cairns at the end of March on a 457. The company are insisting that I take out private medical cover within 1 month of arriving as part of my conditions of contract. The cover required is just for me and have been advised (also checked online for a quote) that it is around $150pm.

Is there a particular reason why you are going to Cairns on a 457 visa and not on a permanent visa (eg ENS/RSMS)?

How long do you have to wait for the 457 to come through as we are waiting for ours ?

what I have read seems very short. 4-8 weeks ?

Yep mine were issued in a month and two of those weeks were waiting for an appointment for the medicals. My visa was submitted online so paper based ones might take longer.

For what it's worth I am paying $428 per month for optimal cover with Medibank. I then claim this back from my employer.

Yes thats about right - I think ours was about 6 weeks.

See my post in this thread....
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ght=457+health

There is no validation timeframe.
The visa period starts ticking from the date it is granted - not the date you have the label put in your passport when you get here.

Hiya we are in sydney on a 457 we have a medicare card which covers us for emergency treatment but we have also taken out a policy with NRMA which covers us for extras (such as ambulance call out etc) it is called extra select and costs us $31.25 a month (2 adults one child 2 yrs old) this is only a very basic policy but it helps.

poshrice

Ours took nine months :-(

still, water under the bridge now

Thanks Posh.

Did you just apply for medicare stating that you have a 457 ?

b.t.w. thanks Bix, I had seen the thread yesterday, but the medicare issue is one where nobody seems to be able to give the same answer.