Boilerman

Anyone out there know where I can get some information on what is meant by DIMIA when they say an employer is obliged to "pay all medical or hospital expenses for a sponsored person (other than costs that are met by health insurance arrangements)"?

My family and I were sent here pretty quickly but my employer seems to think that they have no obligation beyond pushing me through the door of the local Medicare office.

The problem is that Medicare only cover "immediately necessary care only".

I'm a bit concerned that all my family wear glasses (and these are not particularly cheap here in Brisbane at least) and it is possible that my wife might need to see a doctor Gynaecologist soon and it looks like we'll have to pay for her treatment which could be quite expensive and in the UK, would have been covered by the NHS.

DIMIA are a bit vague. My employer is ignorant and I haven't got the first clue.

Can anyone out there suggest where I might look?

In the interim I'm looking into Private Medical Insurance but this seems to go from the sublime to the rediculous. Any favourites?

Pipers Mummy

Myself and my husband came out on a 457 visa - my husband was transferred here from the UK. I was 20 weeks pregnant at the time and although his company provided private medical insurance for us, they put waiting periods on anything pregnancy related. This meant that we incurred considerable out of pocket expenses. It was also our understanding that the Company should pay all medical costs and we queried this with them. After several weeks of discussion and negotiation, they agreed that the company should pay and as such they agreed to pay for any expenses that were not covered by the private medical insurance. I'm certain that they would not have done this had they not been obliged to do so under the terms of the 457 visa.

Good luck!

JAJ

Sponsoring employers for a 457 visa do need to undertake to pay medical expenses for the visa holder. But the anecdotal evidence is that a lot of employers shirk this and try to offload the costs onto the visa holder.

Some British people are entitled to reciprocal Medicare coverage but this is limited in scope.

It really goes without saying that anyone contemplating going to Australia on a 457 should have in their employment contract a commitment from the employer to pay *all* extra medical costs over and above those incurred by permanent residents.

Or better still - fix the problem at source and move to Australia on a PR visa.

Jeremy

Bix

Hello mate

Have a read through this thread and the links in it.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=312005

MartinH

The employer is obliged to pay your medical insurance - however, you should look at what is actually being covered. In my case it is fairly transparent, the cover provided is pretty good but they have also given me the option to upgrade (more coverage, lower excess) at a cost of $145 per month (family) which I have opted for.

andrew63

I was/still am in the same boat!
My boss tried to shove me onto Medicare but i was not entitled as I have been out of the UK for >5 years.
He now pays for MBF "Temporary Overseas Visitor" insurance for me and my family. He seemed reluctant to do this but realised it was his obligation.

Andrew

Boilerman

Thanks Andrew... I think I'll wait until my 3-month probationary period is up (only a couple of weeks away) before taking it up with the boss. The man in the big chair in my firm is a bit of a pom-hater and he has the likes of me thrust upon him from head-office. I can imagine having some interesting conversations coming up but once I'm in then I've not much really to lose.

Ho hum... yet another thing to sort out. It's true what they say... 'If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined!' :scared: