alkristensen

Hi
we are going to be moving to oz july 07

we are a couple.

What is the process for getting med insurance when we get there.
do we have to have it before we go or do we get a grace period being commonwealth country for a set time and if so for how long or do we get it when there>?????

Can anyone advise on the procedures please,
and reccommend any good cheap insurance that covers the basics and for if we need major surgery, or latteral ways of doing it if there are any.

All comments appreciated but please no arguments as to who is best etc etc.

Thanks

al and clare

Nicstids

If you are talking about private medical insurance as opposed to Medicare the there is no need to organise it before you go BUT, if you are over 30 when you take it out, then there is a government loading which is applied to your premiums. There is a waiver of this for new migrants but you are only given a year's grace to take it out - after that the loading applies.

BEWARE - If you have validated and then gone back to the UK for a while, then your year starts to run as at the date you entered Aus on your validation trip. This nearly caught us out - we got our visas April 05, came on a validation trip July 05 but didn't emigrate permanently until Feb 06. We arranged our insurance in June 06, 11 days before the year's grace ran out

Lindsay Clan

Private health insurance is a mine field over here and you have to look into it very closely. As said before as long as you take it out before your first year is up you can get the premiums at a reduced rate. After the it goes up 2% for every year that you are over 31!! There is no ruch, get here and get organised with Medicare first and do all the other usual things like, gettting somewhere to live, job, cars etc and then look into when everything else is done. One thing I would say to do is to get an ambulance cover as soon as you get here though. We are in Vic and had to wait 3 months before we were covered with ours but then it covered us for the whole of Australia, not just Victoria. This is something that private health cover doesn't include fully. You'll get emergency cover and anything other than that you'd have to pay for.

Lorraine

alkristensen

thanks guys, our story is

validated nov 05 moving july 07. whats best to to?

how long do we get medicare for?
am i asking the right questions?

i want to know whether we have free medical insurance/nhs or not

if yes how long for and what does it cover,

if no then what do we do now, i .e what benefit will taking out health cover before our november deadline give us?

Is the grace only for one year then i start to pay 2% for every year over 30 (im 35) clare(39) meaning that im 5 years over so i pay a 10% more premium. Is this correct or not? If so why not.

Do i pay the 10% for life or does it go up gto 12% next year and so on?
Do you get any no claims bonus?

thanks but i was unaware. I thought you just paid for health insurtance for 2 years then got the oz nhs, is this true or have i been given false info.

thanks for the answers so far.
al

ianandhelena

everyone is entitled to medicare for life but it is the public health system and may involve a long wait for non-emergency procedures or travel to another location for some specialist treatment.
taking out cover within your first year sets the "over 30 " clock to zero i.e. if you take out cover and maintain it , you never have to pay the age-related loading.
the "oz nhs" is the public health system=medicare.
if you earn over acertain amount you will have to pay the medicare surcharge if you don't have appropriate health cover:
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle...maze+(archived)

alkristensen

thankyou very much for your answers

so if i had a heart attack on landing id be seen too as if i was in the uk, no charge. for as long as i am a permenant resident?

So what is the benifit of having a private then please?

I have good eyes and almost all false teeth, but i may need a heart op in 15 or so years or a tooth taken out or 2.

Will the 1.5% national insurace (whatever its called) cover everything then. i trust hospitals and dont mind being in a ward etc etc.

Is dental and other stuff really expensive, is that why you need cover?

Most of the stuff i have read on the forum is conflicting and i was told it was a MUST to have insurance for 2 years covering you until you got full entitlement to medicare.

What does private cover for that isnt covered on/by Medicare please.

al

ianandhelena

UK and Oz have a reciprocal health agreement so you don't have to get PR to have a heart attack and be cared for.
some benefits of having health cover are choice of hospital/extras and speed of non-essential treatment.
here are some health funds to look at:

http://www.mbf.com.au/group/
http://www.medibank.com.au/
http://www.stlukes.com.au/

alkristensen

thanks alot

the reciprocal health agreement- how does this change when i have been there two years. or i am a citizen/

thanks. i think this thread may help a few people out, you have been a star-but, may i ask how you know all this, just so i can be safe in knowing that you know correctly.

once again, brilliant answers and i thankyou for your time.

al

Melchels

[/QUOTE] BEWARE - If you have validated and then gone back to the UK for a while, then your year starts to run as at the date you entered Aus on your validation trip. This nearly caught us out - we got our visas April 05, came on a validation trip July 05 but didn't emigrate permanently until Feb 06. We arranged our insurance in June 06, 11 days before the year's grace ran out [/QUOTE]

I Have just fallen foul to this, validated in Apr 2005 and moved here in Dec 05 so Ithought that I had to arrange within the year of becoming a resident!, now I have to pay the levy!

alkristensen

thanks alot for that advice, i did read it in an earlier post.

al

whats the cheapest cover i could go for(thats if i can do it from the uk) that will ghet me on the ladder and not pay the loading fee.

I am not moving there til july 07 and my 1 year to do it in ends at beggining of Nov this year as i validated last year and im still in uk trying to get there eventually.

al

jad n rich

Ok if you had a heart attack you would of course get emergency treatment. But if you needed some sort of corrective surgery you could be waiting years on medicare, make no mistake its a stretched for funding as the NHS. If you get cancer, private guy can get you in next week, medicare may have a waiting list, in this case weeks let alone months can make all the difference. That sort of thing.

Dental treatment is VVV expensive even for children (but a few states have the basics available through state primary schools, fillings not orthodontics etc).

Additional Tax levies apply to those who dont have private insurance if they earn over $50,000 a single, double for family. You might as well then take the private, its the govs way of forcing people off the stretched medicare system.

Age penalites apply if joining after 30, this is waived for 12 months for immigrants.

ianandhelena

the reciprocal arrangement covers visitors.
if you have PR you are not a visitor but are entitled to full medicare benefits.

ianandhelena

you don't have to believe me, just do the research for yourself, as i did.
if you doubt what i say, other people may offer alternative advice.
you must choose for yourself what the truth is.
good luck, doubting thomas.

alkristensen

nooooooooo.
sorry what i meant was, were did you get this good advice. are you in the medical profession or in the know because ogf what you or others around you do for a living.

sorry if it sounded like that but, when you hear so many conflicting stories.......

all i wanted was a firm grip on some truth, and evidence in websites i can look at etc, you provided all that for me, and i am eternally grateful

i wasnt doubting you, just making sure before i accepted it fully, but i have followed all the links you gave me and am medi care user friendly so far.

thank----you
xxx

k sent

al

ianandhelena

i found out the hard way as i'm sure many others on here have done, by coming knowing nothing about the health system and having to learn quickly what is available and how to access it.
i am not in the medical profession.