kids carer

I have been told that if your on more than $100k then medicare goes up in price quite a lot and it is cheaper to have private insurance. If you have private health insurance do you still have to have medicare? We are a 2 adult, 2 child family just moved to Brisbane. I will need to have my youngest at doctors soon to check she is up to date with all her immunisations. We have come from NZ and she had her immunisations up to date before we left. Any other health info you think I would need to know would be helpful.

thanks

Pomster

you need to register for Medicare as private health only covers in patient treatment and specialisations ( depending on cover but things like physio, chiro).
GPs are not covered by private health ins. You pay to visit (unless they bulk bill) and reclaim scheduled fee from medicare office- with your medicare card!

Medicare offices are in most shopping centres/strips

ABCDiamond

Yes, you do need to sign up for Medicare...

Some more Medicare info...

• Some Doctors are Free, (called Bulk Billing).
• Public Hospitals make no charges to Medicare Card Holders for in-patient, emergency and out-patient services.
• Some Doctors will charge per consultation, and you claim part back from Medicare.
• You can register with as many or as few Doctors as you wish. Registration is a simple case of showing your Medicare card, and filling in a small form with name and address etc.
• Private Hospitals charge for everything, but you can claim some of it back from Medicare. Private Health Insurance is considered a must for using Private Hospitals, unless your finances are sufficient to cover large bills.

Almost all workers pay the standard 1.5% Medicare levy towards funding the cost of the Medicare system in Australia. The only exemptions/reductions to this are for the very low paid, (2008 is about $17,309pa)

If you are a single person, earning more than $70,000 per year, or a family earning more than $140,000 per year combined, then a correctly chosen Private Medical Insurance Policy will save you from paying the extra 1% Medical Levy Surcharge (MLS).

JAJ

Assuming you're not Australian citizens, what is your visa status in Australia? New Zealand citizen, permanent resident, temporary resident etc?

kids carer

we are NZ citizens.

thanks for your replies so far, I was going to go and sign up for medicare this week but my DH said he wanted to look at private health care and have that instead but I told him I thought we had to have both. He is in the higher income bracket so would have to pay the extra 1% cost for medicare.

Is there any difference between a pratise that offers bulk billing and the others that you have to claim back, of the 2 practices I spoke to, one you had to pay total cost up front incl kids($60adults, $50kids) you could then claim back $33, the other bulkbilled part of the adult cost and you paid the rest and kids were completely bulkbilled so therefore no charge. Is there a difference in service that you would get between them.

thanks again

kids carer

Oh and another thing is medicare put onto your payslip anywhere as DH couldnt find a medicare component on his payslip anywhere or is it part of your normal taxes.

ABCDiamond

It is lumped in with the normal tax on your payslip.

ABCDiamond

It comes down to the Doctors choice of how many patients they want, or need, and how much they are prepared to get paid for the service they provide.

What I found, when living in Sydney was:
In the cheaper areas of Western Sydney, almost all doctors bulk billed, but in the more expensive areas of Sydney, very few doctors would consider it.

You may find that the new arrival doctors will bulk bill, while they build their practice, but the more respected, well known Doctors will aim for the higher paying patients.

There are exceptions, with some very experienced doctors choosing to provide a service without putting their Porsche before patients.

My own local surgery is very good, with all patients bulk billed 100%, and only 4WD vehicles in the doctors car park, no Lambourgini or Porsche.

kids carer

We are in the northern suburbs (albany creek) of Brisbane so if anyone has any recommendations of a good pratice to go to that would also be helpful

thanks ABC for all your info it has been most helpful

JAJ

If you are NZ citizens living in Australia you have to sign up for medicare. Medicare and (optional) health insurance normally work together.

- you pay the 1.5% Medicare levy regardless
- if your income exceeds a certain level you pay the 1% surcharge unless you have health insurance
- health insurance is a lot more expensive if you don't have medicare.
- you avoid the age loading for health insurance if you take out cover within 12 months of arriving.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Healthcare_in_Australia

Are you planning to obtain permanent resident status in Australia?

kids carer

We are not sure if we will be obtaining PR status as we are not sure what is involved. We are intending to be here long term providing all goes well with my DHs job. He has a review after 6 months which they will then give him a permanent job, we will then buy a house so it will be possibly something we will look into then.

ABCDiamond

Try these... maybe out of date, maybe not...

EATONS HILL
Eaton Central 7 Day Family Practice
6 -12 Bunya Park Dve
Bulk bill all patients

ASPLEY
Aspley Arcade Medical Centre
1368 Gympie Rd
Bulk billing available

ALBANY CREEK
Skin Screen Skin Cancer Clinic
12/ 640 Albany Creek Rd ALBANY CREEK
Bulk billing Except PDT I don't know what that means... (Im just a messenger)

JAJ

Probably employer nomination would be the way to go, but don't rule out general skilled or state sponsored as an alternative.

All depends on whether he has a "skilled" occupation.

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/booklets.htm

Look at booklets 5 and 6 to begin with.
Don't leave it too late as the rules are probably going to get tougher.

A skill assessment may mean a quicker route to PR through ENS (explained in booklet 5), if eligible, he should do that now.

fish.01

Just to clarify. Bulk billing is when it is totally free. When a GP claims most of the fee directly off the government and only charges you the difference this is not partial bulk billing.

Funky Monkey

Hi all.

While we are on the subject and to save posting a new thread maybe ABC or JAJ can help.

I was talking to an Aussie today who also has British citizenship who said he was thinking of going to live in the U.K after living there for 4 years before. I asked him why and his wife was given 2 months to live 4 years ago but survived and has since relapsed. He told me that cancer is not considered a disability in Australia and you pay for a lot of the costs. I did not go into it in great detail as he was busy but I thought that major illness and most needed operations were "free". I was a bit shocked as what if you could not pay for treatment? I had chemo , blood e.t.c and the cost was $1000's sometimes just for a 2 hour chemo treatment,the cost of chemo is staggering.
A bit worrying if this is the case although I am not thinking of getting ill soon