Wave the Sails

I appreciate that this is a kind of 'how long is a piece of string' thread, but I was trying to get an idea of how much it would cost a 67yr old female and a 55 yr old male per month in WA. No pre-existing conditions that we know of. Both in good health.

Many thanks all

Mrs. J

(Flying 1st March and STILL no Visas)

Knockallan

Hello

Please go to www.ahia.org.au this is a list of members of the Australian Health Insurance Association.
Check out the various companies (approx 20) and you can see online the cost for different types of medical cover.
It is much cheaper than UK!

Best regards,
Robert

Wol

It all depends on what sort of visa you are on. If it's a temporary one (-410 for example) you HAVE to have insurance to get the visa in the first place, but it's the sort of insurance that is fairly limited and which is only offered by one or two companies.

On a PR, providing you take out private cover within 12 months of "being eligible" for Medicare (and it's best to be conservative with the dates because it's a new concept and some companies are still unsure) you will not pay the 2% per year loading for the over-thirties. At your age this would be a hefty sixty-something % loading. This provision only came in last year and is to encourage people to take out cover on arrival. Any loading you have (or in this case, lack of loading) carries forward to another company should you change insurers in future. We were very lucky in that the new rules came in just as we moved, and although we had to "educate" the insurer on them we didn't have to pay any loading.

Be aware that private cover here isn't quite analogous to that in the UK, where it brings a lot of extras. Here it gives a private room if available but as far as I can work out you do rely on the Medicare system a lot more. You can't have outpatient treatment on it for example, IIRC.

JAJ

Health insurance rates are very different if you have a PR visa as opposed to a temporary one like retirement.


Jeremy

Wave the Sails

It will be a Temporary Retirement Visa..................

JAJ

In that case make sure you look at the options for temporary visa holders - it will be a lot more expensive than if you had PR/Medicare.

If you're not eligible for Medicare you will be able to avoid the tax Medicare levy. However it's a grey area if a reciprocal scheme might cover you. Get good professional advice.

Jeremy

Wave the Sails

Thanks very much for that, could you recommend where I might get that advice?

Wol

FWIW Australian Unity charged $1810pa for the "required" -410 visa insurance 18 months ago (couple aged early sixties). But it's only for $30k cover, so it's best to keep a capital sum in the bank for real emergencies!

JAJ

I can't make any specific recommendations as I've not used anyone for this kind of service, but I believe Alan Collett does some work in this area. Maybe give him a call?

Jeremy

lesleys

We're using Medibank Private www.medibank.com.au for this. You can get a quote online for Overseas Visitor cover.

Lesley

Wave the Sails

Wonderful - thanks Lesley, I'll pass it on to Parents in Law