Hi Sandra

I can only advise you on my experience of Medicare. I don't have any medical insurance.

Last year I saw a specialist for a back problem and he advised I needed an operation to resolve my back pain. He gave me 3 choices.
1) Wait for a bed in public hospital as it wasn't life threatening but it was life restricting, could take years.

2) Go private and have the operation in private hospital with all the bells and whistles whenever I wanted. This would have cost about $10,000

3)Go semi private, means have the operation in a public hospital but pay a gap payment, in within a month. This cost me about $3,000, and also Medicare contributed another $3,000 which I had to claim on behalf of the surgeon and then pass on to the surgeon. This is the one I went for.

This was my first serious illness in 10 years and if I'd paid insurance it would have cost me I estimate about $1,000 per year, so I saved myself $7,000 .

I still don't have medical insurance and I don't intend to. I do however have house and car insurance.

You pay your money and you take your chances.

I haven't got Med insurance:

I was actually hospitalised for 4 weeks here ( a period of two weeks then I had to go in again for another two weeks - op botch up) - P.s you can't always fly home in need - I couldn't because the nature of my injury - it would have been dangerous

I did not pay a penny for hospital treatment - it was under the agreement act between Uk and Aus. (I'm not sure if you have to pay a gap on medicare when you are hospitalised , but you certainly don't with the UK/AUS agreement act- as I didn't, and I had countless Xrays , and tests on top of the op's and skin graft, plus I used to have to go back to the hospital once a week for about three months - then once a month after that. This was when I was on a business visa, and I did not have medicare , although I'm told you can get it , I didn't know at the time and just used "I'm British" - agreement between Aus and UK)

local doctors bills, I paid out of my own pocket, but when I went down to get a Medicare card, I took my receipts with me and was reimbursed for much of it. Dressings and such, wound creams etc - I spent a fortune on, and medicare would not reimburse me for this although they were very essential (I had necrosis in my leg from a fishing accident - had to have two op's to cut out the flesh and tissue and a skin graft - won't go into it - long story)

I've had a medicare card for two years now since getting PR - and I've never used it _ I haven't been to the doctor in that period of time (I should! - I hate doctors though - I had enough of doctors to last me a life time with my leg to be honest with you) Dentists I pay for myself which is expensive , I paid about $700 for one root canal about 4 years ago, Hubby last year paid more than this for one of his it was closer to the thou mark. A - check up's with my dentist $90, these figures aren't exact.

cheers

P.S reading this thread with interest, because I looked around at a few insurance companies a few years ago and decided against it, for a lot of reasons - who knows may get some myself now. I suppose it's differnt with kids though. I'm one of those people who think "b*gger it" - I don't take much notice of my own health until something happens.