Private cover isnt going to make one skerrick of difference to general going to the doctor costs (ie GP and specialists in their rooms) unless you get meds which arent on the PBS.

Hope you are feeling better!

Careful there, "better" private medical insurance may nit have helped you cost wise

I guess it's because we're used to free healthcare. It takes a bit of getting used to having to pay for it (shock horror )

Have to admit that I'm a little surprised that anyone would wait until they're unwell before they register with a GP. Having sorted just about everything else other than the elusive job (), registering with a GP is one of our next priorities. It's traumatic enough having an unwell one in the family without struggling to find a Health Care Professional to help us. Which reminds me, a new arrival to Canberra that I met recently who's a GP.... Maybe I should put extra special effort into cultivating that friendship!

PS: To the OP: I hope you're feeling better now

I agree about the antibiotics, many people use them too much. However I go to the doctors every year for my bloods and general check up. We have a family history of heart disease and stroke and diabetes (mainly due to weight). I eat a healthy diet, exercise daily and hard yet still my cholesterol is high(ish). It gives me an indication on what I should or shouldn't be doing. I also have fairly high iron levels so need and want to keep a check on that.

Ps you MUST go for your pap smears. It is your duty to yourself

I registered with almost every GP in the area, makes it easier if I ever find my normal one busy, or closed.

That sounds like a good longer term plan. But for now I'll be happy with just one

If you stick to the free services it really can be quite similar to the NHS. ie bulk billing GP - canberra excepted - , free hospital, free outpatients specialists (rather than using private specialists) etc. It just has the potential to be more expensive as it seems far easier to go private and have to pay without realising it. Dental is the big exception as it is poorly covered by medicare.

In the UK registering for a GP is a big deal but here, because people can go to any GP they like, registering is often not done until the last minute - even if it is preferable to do so in advance. I have gone to numerous new GP's over the years by giving them a quick call or just waltzing in (usually due to needing one near a new job in addition to the one near my home or something like that).

Talking of PAP smears, I cant believe how quickly the results come in - 3 days later I had mine on the last one, I would wait about 3 weeks in London.

Oh god, PAP smear AND Mammogram both due soon. Squashing my breasts into those metal plate thingies is no mean feat, its like trying to squash a well plumped pillow.

Just thinking about this further: Won't having several GPs mean that you'll have incomplete medical records floating about the place?

Thanks for your comments. I'm a big believer of free health care so it's encouraging to hear from you that it's do-able here.

I'm not sure what the dentists charges over here amount to but I had a whole lot of dental work done privately on my way over to Aus in South Africa and it worked out a lot cheaper than what I would have been charged for so-called NHS work in the UK.

But a very necessary thing to do, whatever you do please take the tests. I knew someone who refused to have them by not visiting her GP for several years. The result was she died from totally treatable causes.

Dont worry, in Canberra you will be struggling to find one that will take you!

Try having a small B-cup and going through it - very little to squash and I often end up with achey bones!

I'm puzzled that so many of you seem to have problems finding a GP. We're obviously very lucky as in Sydney it seems very straight forward - I've seen 5 different GPs now on two sides of the bridge. There's a place in Newtown I can just drop in and see whoever's on duty, e.g., went and got some antibiotics when I was really under the weather (rare I take them, but I needed them) and they bulk-bill.

Otherwise I go to a clinic in town for my longer-term and preventative care; I pay something towards that but the Medicare amount is taken off electronically there and then. The only thing I can whinge about is that I see the naturopath more often then I see the GP, and that's not claimable.

They do them free for all women over 40 in WA, I had my first one two years ago and I am due this year, they do them every two years. In the UK they do them over 50 unless you have a mother or aunt that had cancer which is bollocks, total bollocks, my friend was diagnosed at 41 with no family history, I do sometimes wonder if it is a cost cutting thing and this stupid age for PAP smears, my 20 year old friend went to have one and was turned away.

I wont miss my appointments thats for sure.