comet555

Ok this question isn't for me, but for someone else.

If someone were to come to Australia on a permanent visa then I would assume almost all costs would be taken care of by Medicare, under the public system of course.

However, if the person arrived on a temporary visa what would the expected costs be? Now, the catch is the person would be coming from Canada where there is no reciprocal health agreement in place. So it's not like when people come from the UK on a temp visa and can get Medicare. Coming from Canada she would not get that at all, so it's private health or out of pocket as far as I know.

Now, while on the topic of private health I would assume that since she is already pregnant that her pregnancy would not be covered by private health care (because of the 1 year waiting time). If I'm wrong about that please correct me

So... in short, what would the costs be if in Oz on a temp visa with no Medicare (from Canada) and no private health (because of waiting time).

comet555

Also, I do believe that if you arrive on a temporary visa and then apply for a permanent visa right away (if eligible) then you can get Medicare. This was covered elsewhere and I believe confirmed by JAJ although would have to find the link.

slippery30

1. Was she or her partner on 457visa?, in that case its employer responsibility by law to payfor any medical costs. Usually employer take healthplans for this, it is not insurance but still covers enough. Check with employer.

2. Yes, if she/he is eligible they can apply for PR, she will get medicare entitlement the same day. Just go to local medicare office and show them proof submission of any PR visa,, 175,176, ENS

comet555

Her husband would be on the 457. Yes, it is technically their responsiblity to pay for medical costs, but from what I've read on here most employers get around this by requiring the employee to take out private health care on their own.

I wonder if the private health wouldn't cover it would that mean the employer would be on the hook?

slippery30

As far as i understand, most insurance companies are not willing to give insurance cover to 457 visa holders...however, there are companies which offer health plans..check out IMAN.com.au. Legally still the responsibility of medical costs of 457visa holders is of the employer. They have to arrange appropriate cover on top of salary paid to employee. Seems to be the employer incase is not doing it by the book.

comet555

I have no idea what the employer would or would not cover. This is sort of hypothetical at the moment because there hasn't been an official offer.

My questions still remain though because I've seen on this board that a lot of employers just put it in the contract that the employee must take out private health cover like this:
http://www.medibank.com.au/Visitors-...Insurance.aspx

So regardless of who pays for it what happens if a baby is born and the private health care does not cover it? Does that mean the employer would have to foot the bill? How would you go about getting the money in a situation like that?

I'm asking because I've never seen a question quite like that on here. So I'm just geniunely curious. In this case the answer will either mean she has to stay in Canada to have the baby or possibly go to Oz to have the baby even if there are costs, etc.

quoll

If she is already pregnant then she wont be able to get private insurance anyway - there is usually a waiting period clause for such things.

comet555

Yes, she is already pregnant. I'm pretty sure all private health care coverage would have about a year waiting period. They could still get private health care as far as I know, but they wouldn't be covered for any pre-existing conditions like pregnancy.

TillyG

If they are going to be on the 457 visa then they can get insurance via IMAN (and a couple of other places). If you want the pregnancy cover, you have to pay for a full year of obstetric cover before you're entitled to use it. When we had it it was $416 per month.

The one perk of being a temp resident with that insurance is that IMAN will pay ALL of your out of pocket costs relating to the pregnancy. Normally, if you go privately over here, you still end up a good few thousand dollars out of pocket (as medicare will only refund a small proportion and not everything is covered by health insurance if you're PR/Citizen). A girlfriend of mine had a baby last year (they're on a 457) and absolutely EVERYTHING got reimbursed by IMAN.

That's about the only perk there is though

With regards to Medicare, when I was up at the antenatal clinic the other week, there was a sign saying that if you didn't have full medicare coverage then you would be charged something like $95 before seeing a doctor. An overnight stay would cost from $800. It was something like that anyway (didn't memorise it as it's not relevant to me and besides, I have pregnancy brain so can't retain much info at the moment LOL)

HTH a bit

T x

comet555

Well since she's already pregnant the private health care won't be of any help. Plus, there is no Medicare through the reciprocal agreement like peole from the UK get.

So presumably that leaves all expenses to be paid by them out of pocket. Unless of course they can claim their employer is responsible for all of their medical bills (which I believe legally to be the case?).

TillyG

Sorry, I think I must have missed your most recent post (stating she was already pg) while I was typing mine out (got a new keyboard the other day and it's taking forever to type as it's rubbish and keeps skipping letters!).

If they apply for PR then I understand they'd be entitled to full Medicare benefits from the date of applying (it's not something I was aware of when we went PR last year but I've read it on here).

How far along in the pregnancy is she?

When pregnant, there is the option of "shared care" which means you see your GP for the majority of your appts - this may work out cheaper (eg it's $95 to see the staff at the antenatal clinic without medicare, but at my GP surgery it's about $75 to see the GP)

Also bear in mind she won't really be able to travel on a plane after a certain date (most airlines are OK up to 28 weeks but start getting cautious after that and it's a definite no-no after something like 35 weeks). Plus, flying when pregnant isn't really much fun at all. I flew at 22 + 23 weeks last time and it wasn't the best fun (and was only a 2hr flight to/from Majorca).

I'm 22 weeks now with my second and unless I absolutely had to, there's no way I'd consider flying. It's just too uncomfortable

comet555

I believe she's due in July sometime.

Yes, ideally even if they came on a temp they could apply for PR right away (if eligible... I'm not sure). That way they could get Medicare.

But it'd be nice for them to know where they stand with all the scenarios.

TillyG

Just out of interest, what's their citizenship/residency status in Canada? I know that over here, if you're PR (like me) then your baby is automatically an Australian Citizen (and we'll also apply for he/she to be British by Descent too). If that's the same in Canada, then it might be worth staying until the baby comes so it has that extra nationality - might be useful in later life, iykwim.

I think if it were me and life in Canada wasn't too bad then I'd stay put til the baby comes. Moving can be very stressful & a very emotional time and doing that while under the influence of pregnancy hormones doesn't sound like much fun to me!

Hope it all goes well for them

T x

comet555

I believe they are Canadian citizens.

She has mentioned that if she stays in Canada until the baby arrives then the husband would go over to work and she would join after. She lives very close by to family I believe. So that could work. I'm not sure how it works getting the baby a visa in that scenario though.