monkeyalan

My Partner is starting a new job in Melbourne and I will be on her 457 visa application as her de facto.

The question is this.

I have psoriatic arthritis which is 100% under control in the UK using a drug called enbrel. This drug is on the PBS list in Australia.

As we have a reciprocal health agreement will my need for this drug under medicare once we're in Oz have a negative effect on the visa application?

sorry if this is another boring newbie question but I hope you understand how complicated this all is......especially as she was only offered the job last week completely out of the blue!

thanks

Al

monkeyalan

anyone?

after further investigation it seems I will not be able to claim for any medicines for this due to it being a pre existing condition.

Does this mean that I am not likely to be approved for a visa even if i cover the cost of the medicine myself and the visa is only temporary for 18 months?

Shellyj

Everybody has to pay for medicine in Australia, you will pay a lesser amount if it's on the PBS list and depending on how much you have spent over the year. About $32 per prescription (gets smaller after you've paid out a set amount) plus the visit to the doc to get the prescription written but you may only have to do that once every few months.
If you get the visa depends on who's assesing it. People with medical conditions get visas, it depends if you have have a lot of ongoing medical and/or care needs or your condition could end being so that may end up being paid for by the Aus Government.

monkeyalan

thanks for the reply.

form what i've read on the medicare ( and others) websites the reciprocal health agreement between the UK and Oz will not cover any medication needed for a pre existing/ongoing condition so I would not expect any help financially on that front from the Oz taxpayer.

The issue that concerns me most is that even tho' i'm 100% fit while taking my current meds , they are a biomedicine and as such are astronomically expensive @ £12000 / ad$24000 per year.

I'm unsure what stance the DIAC will take as the reciprocal health agreement doesn't cover me so they wont have to pay and due to very lucky circumstances i would be in a postition to pay for my own meds anyway.

al

Shellyj

No idea where you read pre exisiting conditions are not covered, not on the medicare site.

All treatment which is 'medically necessary' is covered. That includes pre existing conditions and the medicine to treat it, as long as it's on the PBS list. It is only pre arranged and elective treatment that are not.

If your medicine is not on the list you pay for it yourself and as you can afford it you'll need to prove that to DIAC in your application.

monkeyalan

can't find it on the medicare site at the moment but



http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache...&hl=en&ct=clnk


just below the list of countries with a reciprocal health agreement.

monkeyalan

It does seem ,according to medicare that if granted the visa i would be covered for my meds , which is both a good thing and a bad thing I believe due to the possible expense to the government.

A bit more info

Our 457 visa application is for 18 months

we are being provided with medical insurance by my other halfs employer for the full term of the visa

we have a solicitor (Nevett Ford) doing our application for us

If needs be we will cover the cost of my medication while in Australia.


So what are our chances given another poster here was refused on medical grounds due to the cost of the same meds?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=556241

getting abit worried now as my GF will be away for 18 months on her own and neither of us would be very happy for that period.

monkeyalan

found out a bit more info regarding 457 visa issues where medication expense may be a reason for refusal.

apparently if your prospective employer ( or in my case defacto partners ) is willing to make an undertaking regarding costs it shouldn't be an issue.

we'll see.

Pollyana

There is an agent called Peter Bollard who specialises in applications with medicals issues. He may be able to advise you
http://users.bigpond.net.au/onk/

monkeyalan

yeah, thats who i emailed after seeing his name pop up a few times while searching and he gave me the info.

monkeyalan

just to keep this thread updated incase it's of any use to anyone else

went for xrays 3 weeks ago which we know were ok.

it was then decided i needed a medical which we can only assume is due to the condition which i take enbrel for (psoriatic arthritis) which was on the original application we put in 5 weeks ago. The medical centre staff all seemed a bit confused when i said the xrays were already in Sydney.

After doing my medical and passing me A1 the Doctor then suggested i get a letter from my hospital consultant re my condition just incase the CO gets the medical report and deems his say so insuffient.

monkeyalan

our CO has apparently just realised there are new rules from the 14th september for 457 applicants and she needs to read up on them.

genius.