Medicare

Mackman

Im here in Oz on a 457 Visa. Im just wondering, can i get a medicare card? If so how do i go about getting one?

Vorsprung

You get a visitor Medicare card if you are bothered, which only entitles you to "emergency" medical care, not GP fee rebates. If you're from the North and it says that on your passport (in the Place of Birth section) and you have an NHS number, bring your passport, NHS card with a map showing that the North is part of the UK and you'll get a full Medicare card - the map is for when they get arsey and see your Irish passport and say you don't get the full card. You get the
in a Medicare office, usually in shopping centres.

When did you arrive on your 457? I think legally your supposed to have private medical insurance, particularly if you've arrives since Sept '09.

Mackman

yeah i have health insurance, just lookin to chance my arm at getting the GP rebates etc. and i have to get some dental work done, the insurance doesnt cover it though.
Cheers

Zambia

Mackman wrote: »

yeah i have health insurance, just lookin to chance my arm at getting the GP rebates etc. and i have to get some dental work done, the insurance doesnt cover it though.
Cheers

Dont think Medicare is that hot on dental work

Vorsprung

Most insurance plans have some sort of dental cover, bum deal if you've missed out.

Mackman

I must have another look at my insurance policy, really dont look forward to spending a few grand at the dentist

Zambia

Vorsprung wrote: »

Most insurance plans have some sort of dental cover, bum deal if you've missed out.

On medibank its an extra:(

The Sweeper

Irish people have a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia. This means if you require emergency treatment as an inpatient in hospital, you have the same entitlements to free hospitalisation in a public hospital as an Australian citizen.

Elective procedures (e.g. a tonsillectomy) are not covered under this reciprocal agreement. Emergency procedures (e.g. appendectomy) are covered under the agreement.

Depending which state you are in, you may be liable for ambulance fees in case of emergency - so it's certainly worth taking out ambulance cover (very cheap, few dollars a month). Private health insurance won't cover you for much more than the reciprocal healthcare agreement will (though you'd be able to have a tonsillectomy if you needed one, for instance), but most policies have limitations, an excess, and things they do not cover (e.g. cosmetic surgery).

Dentistry and opticial treatments are usually not covered under private health insurance, unless you have a policy with an 'extras' option, and even then it's expensive and you want to make sure you are going to get the full benefit of those extras for it to be worthwhile paying for them.

If you have a dental emergency like an abscess, it's worth presenting to a hospital A&E department to see if you could be covered by their treatment.

mandrake04

Good insurance can save you money.

I took up HCF last June and went to the dentist for 1st time in 4 years last August, Check-up + X-Ray + 3 fillings + incisor Pin

1st visit Gap = $50
2nd visit Gap= $38

Plus I avoided the surcharge in extra tax.

Vorsprung

If you have a dental emergency, your best bet is always to try to see a dentist first!

myhorse

A very important thing to remember is that if earning over (I think) $70K as a single person if you dont have private health care the tax man hits you for pretty much the cost of a private health care package.

In effect you end up getting free private health care.

Usually the "extras" will kick in straight away so say for a dental check up you can get two free a year depending in which provider you go for.

(must admit that medicare is bloody awesome if you are entitled to it and the automatic rebate to your bank account is soooooo cool)

mandrake04

myhorse wrote: »

A very important thing to remember is that if earning over (I think) $70K as a single person if you dont have private health care the tax man hits you for pretty much the cost of a private health care package.

In effect you end up getting free private health care.

Usually the "extras" will kick in straight away so say for a dental check up you can get two free a year depending in which provider you go for.

(must admit that medicare is bloody awesome if you are entitled to it and the automatic rebate to your bank account is soooooo cool)

over $77K you have to pay an extra 1% of your surcharge or $770

My HCF is $94 month or $1128 a year... if I didn't have it I would be paying $950 a year extra tax anyway.

(over 30's get hit by surcharge)

myhorse

mandrake04 wrote: »

over $77K you have to pay an extra 1% of your surcharge or $770

My HCF is $94 month or $1128 a year... if I didn't have it I would be paying $950 a year extra tax anyway.

(over 30's get hit by surcharge)

pretty sweet deal is'nt it. I get hit as over 30 (and the buggers dont cover cosmetic surgery. Couldnt understand why they had to point that bit out to me:()

Think I am paying $140 aweek with medibank but I was like a kid in a sweet shop when loading all the extras

mandrake04

myhorse wrote: »

pretty sweet deal is'nt it. I get hit as over 30 (and the buggers dont cover cosmetic surgery. Couldnt understand why they had to point that bit out to me:()

Think I am paying $140 aweek with medibank but I was like a kid in a sweet shop when loading all the extras

Man that crazy $140 a week are you a PR or TR? Thats big bucks.

My $94 a month is combined cover its got nearly everything.... I can get a massage if I get stressed.

jank

Yea they are big on the extra here in OZ regarding Health Cover. I am with HBA where the company I work for have some good health insurance for me but I paid a bit extra for the extras (no pun intended). Just over $100 a month but that covers me and my partner. It has a $hit load on it, Dental -> aromatherapy. All kinds of stuff that I will never use but there are some stuff in there that I wanted so I paid the extra bit.

I also get good GP rebates with it too. Got $51 back on a $60 dollars GP fee some weeks back. You don't get that back home!

Actually can someone recommend a dentist in the Sydney, CBD that reasonable. How much should a check up cost?

myhorse

mandrake04 wrote: »

Man that crazy $140 a week are you a PR or TR? Thats big bucks.

My $94 a month is combined cover its got nearly everything.... I can get a massage if I get stressed.

my bad, $140 a month not a week.

myhorse

jank wrote: »

Actually can someone recommend a dentist in the Sydney, CBD that reasonable. How much should a check up cost?

About $150 up to $200 (including x rays) would be reasonable.
With Medibank you can either pick a dentist and just check you are covered by medibank or they have a list of all dentists by location that dont charge for the checkup, clean, floride and x rays. They just swipe your card and you get 2 check ups a year.
I would imagine your provider (once you have that option) would have a similiar arrangement and their website or helpdesk would be able to tell you where is good and covered by your package.
Dont know in the CBD as I use a guy in the eastern suburbs.

Vorsprung

Speaking of dentists,anyone know a good dentist in Brisbane? I'm in Paddington.

The Sweeper

Some people take out insurance with only extras, no hospital cover at all. If you're a permanent resident, or here for a few years on a skilled migrant visa and intend to stay a bit longer, make sure you read the small print on your insurance policies.

Depending on your age and the insurance company you've gone with, some things will not be covered - for instance, if you're female, late 20s and you take out a policy with someone like NIB, you may find that you're covered for obstetrics, but if you were to suffer kidney failure, you would not be covered for dialysis in a private hospital. You may find the level of cover you have bought has restrictions on "older people's" ailments - e.g it wouldn't cover heart surgery with a private consultant and so on. Hence it's always important to be fully aware of what you're covered for.

Other things to remember:

Most health insurance does not cover the cost of a private consultation. If you have an illness that requires a specialist referral from your GP, your insurance usually will not cover the cost of that specialist's consultation fee. It also may not cover the cost of tests and outpatient procedures.

Here's an example - let's say you have a problem with your kidneys, liver or heart. You're not feeling well, so you go to your GP, who runs initial tests. The tests demonstrate something is wrong, so your GP refers you to a nephrologist, hepatologist or cardiologist.

If you go public to these specialists, the waiting time for your appointment may be eight to 12 weeks. You may also still have to pay a fee - a "gap", meaning the gap between what Medicare will shell out, and what the specialist charges for their consultation. If the specialist doesn't bulk bill (e.g. get paid direct from Medicare) you'll have to pay the full fee, claim back the medicare bit yourself and get stung for the gap.

A consultation may be, for instance, $120; if the specialist doesn't bulk bill, you pay the $120 and claim back maybe $80 of that from medicare - so even in the public system you've had to wait 12 weeks for your appointment and it's ultimately cost you $40.

If you go private, you will still have to pay for the consultant - their consultation fee may be $150, but you'll still be able to claim $80 of that back from Medicare and you'll probably see the consultant same day, following day or at least that week.

Problem with the private consultation then is you'll get hit for the full costs of the tests the consultant orders - but then again, all outpatient tests are usually chargeable and you'll get a pathology bill. If you're public, medicare pays a chunk and you pay a chunk. If you're private, you pay the lot and have to claim back what medicare will cover.

Your private hospital insurance is most useful if you're an inpatient who's been hospitalised for your condition, in which case your insurance company should be picking up the cost for the hospital room, your consultant's fees, your medications, so on. Still be careful, lots of insurance policies have an annual excess, or an excess that applies for each hospital stay, or a co-payment (e.g. they'll foot the bill for your room in a public or private hospital, but you'll be liable for a co-payment which may be something like $50 a night in a shared ward or $80 a night in a private room)

Just wanted to throw that out there, because lots of people are taking out insurance given the tax situation as described above - but then they're lucky that they never have cause to use anything but the extras, and when the time comes for them to actually be hospitalised, they can get a hell of a fright about what the small print says.

mandrake04

The basic Hospital cover is the bit that avoids the Surcharge, I have a combined which means its a mixture of Hospital, Ambulance and extras.

You can get

Hospital Cover + Extras (includes Ambulance)
Hospital Cover Only
Extras Only
Ambulance only

But only the top 2 will avoid the surcharge.

HCF Just click on next to get the basic price.

38141

If you were on Plan B with VHI before coming out, then dropped it for 1/2 years while here, and then returned back after your stint of 1/2 years in oz, would it be possible to get back on the plan b or whichever policy you had before you left?