charlieminch

Hi Guys,

I've just moved to Perth from the UK this week. I hold a Subclass 309 partner visa, which as i understands means that,

"you may enrol in Australia's medical benefits expenses and hospital care scheme, Medicare."

Does anyone know what the 'may' is for? I've tried calling, but all phone lines are down so have simply had to send an email.

If i manage to enrol myself with medicare, please could anyone tell me roughtly what it covers? Would it still be adviseable to take out cheap health insurance and would the fact im on a 309 Visa cause any trouble doing so?

Thanks for your help in advance!

martin1978

I'm currently on a 309 and enrolled in medicare. You may as well because the ATO are going to charge you 1.5% for it whether you are or not. In fact if I were you I'd get enrolled ASAP.

The 'may' just means that you are allowed to.

Personally so far I've found it to be very similar to the UK NHS though others disagree, but when I've needed a doctor and treatment i've received it free of charge.

No such thing as 'cheap' health insurance here. If you do a search there are numerous threads on the benefits and drawbacks of Australian private health.

goldchoccycoin

If you can find a Doctor who 'bulk bills' (many walk in 'no appointment' clinics bulk bill) then your consultation costs will be free. However, prescription charges in Australia are often more expensive than the UK. All emergency treatment is free as is most hospital treatment - but there may well be longish waiting lists.

There is no general dental treatment for free and it can be pricey - often a cheap 'extras' private health policy can give back a decent percentage of the outlay for a 6-monthly check up and clean/polish as well as for fillings etc.

Private 'extras' cover can also cover partial or total costs for optical, physio, massage etc.

A great resource is www.privatehealth.gov.au

Also, for an idea of what a extras package may include have a look at www.medibank.com.au which is one of the large providers of health insurance.

Another reason to maybe consider Private Health cover is if you earn over $80K as a single or $150K as a family - there are tax implications if you don't have cover.

Good luck!

verystormy

It depends on what state you are in. In WA, ambulances are expensive so private covers that. Where we live there are no bulk bill doctors, so a visit costs $68 and i get about half back from medicare into the bank.

Prescriptions can be VERY expensive as unlike the NHS you pay the going rate. I had some anti biotics recently that were about $100.

fish.01

For people with access to medicare most prescribed medicines are capped like the NHS though at a higher amount...anything above the cap is subsided by the govt. If it is cheaper than the cap you pay the lower amount.

The cap is currently $36.10 or $5.90 if low income or pensioner.

You can look up which medicines are on the PBS here:
http://www.pbs.gov.au/browse/medicine-listing

For those who want to find out more:
http://www.pbs.gov.au/info/about-the-pbs

Mister176

From my experience, the Medicare system can be a LOT more expensive than the NHS. It is also clearly more complicated and onerous.

Especially if you are on certain regular long-term medication. A LOT of the standard NHS prescriptions drugs are not on the Medicare PBS (gvt subsidised) list, which means you have to pay the market RRP out of your own pocket.

As one of the above poster mentioned, some basic antibiotics that we take for granted in the UK can cost you a small fortune here!! I have no plan of spending my retirement in Australia, it's just not affordable as a pensioner and I am not just talking about medical bills!

fish.01

Another thing to note is you should make sure your family is registered for the PBS safety net.

Even if you were on the same medicare card you used to have to register on a separate website. Not sure if this is still the case.

The safety net means if your whole family are out of pocket more than $1390.60 in the year you will only pay $5.90 for drugs from then on.

If you are a pensioner and you pay more than $354 then drugs will be free from then on.