Stephen Jones

Hi everyone,

What is the state of 'free' health care in Oz?


Stephen

CORKER

There aint nun.......

CORKER

tracey.d

Tried to send you some karma for being such a true, honest, straight to the point poster
Said I have to give it to someone else first Must have given you your quota before!

CORKER

Thanks for the thought ...karma always appreciated..
When did you give me the Karma before..???

CORKER

tracey.d

No idea . Will try again to see if it was a mistake. Just managed to send Blossom some so must have sent you some at some point

tracey.d

The computer says no...I have to spread it around! Must have sent you some for something
Tracey

CORKER

Well if you did, thankyou very much...

CORKER

ABCDiamond

It's pretty similar to the UK NHS for adults, but children do not get everything free as in the UK.

Public Hospitals are Free.
Some Doctors are Free, when they state that they "Bulk Bill", others charge, and then you claim a certain amount back from Medicare.

Dentists are not FREE.

Some more info and links here:
Medical
and
info_medical

renth

Generally a bit better, shorter waiting lists for stuff like heart bypasses etc...

My doctor wants to refer me to a specialist for a suspected stomach ulcer, she reckons as I'm private I'll get seen in up to 3 weeks. If I wasn't it could take up to a year. So in that regards it's pretty similar to the UK.

Pipers Mummy

Health care is definitely not free here. If you go to a public hospital then okay, everything is covered whilst you are there - but there are waiting lists just like the UK.

Some Doctors do bulk bill as others have said so you pay nothing, however, in my experience most Doctors do not and so you pay up front and then incur out of pocket expenses. I am pregnant and we have had considerable out of pocket expenses despite the fact that I am a 'public' patient. These include Ultrasound's - the public hospital I am using refers you to private ultrasound clinics so we have paid $180 up front and Medicare reimbursed approx. $80 - out of pocket $100.

To be honest we've found it to be a bit of a lottery - all hospitals and Doctors are run independently and as such offer different services.

Certainly, from a pregnancy perspective (been here since 20 weeks pregnant) I have not found the 'public' service I have received to have been as good as the NHS maternity care that I received in the UK......

Stormz

Interesting....

As my wife`s 6 months pregnant and we`ll be in Perth in June, what can we expect for her to have to do/pay?

renth

It's certainly bloody hard to understand.

First doctor I saw about the suspected ulcer bulked billed me - no charge, second doctor, 2 visits $40.00 each but I'll get a lot of it back when I take the bill to Medicare.

ECG and Heart Ultrasound - about $120.00 - no Medicare rebate or private health cover.

Upper Abdominal ultrasound - $140 - I will get a proportion back from Medicare, why this examination and not the heart one?????

Appointment with consultant - covered by private health but there may be a "gap" which I must pay, same for any procedure I might need.

I tell you what it's bloody confusing, as is choosing private health cover. I just went with Medibank Private because they were the best known, and this was after hours poring over different brochures and web surfing....

ABCDiamond

To see which areas have the higher numbers of Bulk Billing doctors, this pdf link has the % figures for non referred services bulk billed thoughout the country, based on Federal areas, for 2003 and 2004:

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wc...LE/tablee1.pdf

QLD had an average of 67.7% in 2004, but varied between 52% and 86% in the different locations (My own area is 65.6%)

NSW was 78.1%, but varied between 43.4% and 96.8%

So the area with the highest %, will give you a better chance of paying nothing for your Doctor. But often these areas cater for a population that may be unable to afford to pay the higher doctors fees.

Wave the Sails

Personally I found the pregnancy care to be far superior here than in the UK, but perahps that is because I was classed as high-risk and wanted a bit more attention.

I flew over here at 27 weeks but even prior to that I went to see a Consultant privately in the UK (at £75 a visit, but only saw him 4 times so not too bad). Do a search on my name and you'll see what shenanigans I had with the NHS with my first pregnancy.

Every appointment I have been to I have seen the Consultant. The most gap I have paid has been about $80 for a scan. Personally I don't mind paying the extra not to have to sit in a crowded hospital for goodness knows how long, or the same to see an overworked midwife.

My insurance only covered me for the hospital and delivery here so all other visits/scans were for us to pay. I reckon it only amounted to about $500 maximum. Also, I don't know much about it, but if you reach a certain amount above your gap payments then you get the whole lot back. (Someone else will better advise).

Don't forget you get a $3000 one-off payment just for having a baby over here, so that should cover any out of pocket expenses you may have. We felt like total scum queueing at CentreLink to get this payment but I suppose when you consider how much a child will cost until it's 18, $3000 doesn't go far

Mrs J

Stormz

Do you have to have health insurance to have a baby???