Medical cover- Perthes Disease

[Millbrook]

Hi All
Just wanted to ask a question and hoped someone could help.
Our son has Perthes disease and has received regular check ups at the hospital. We have now been told by the consultant that he does not need to be seen again until he is 15yrs old, and this would be for a bone scan.
My question is as we hope to make the move to Oz this year, which Medical cover do we go for? will he be covered by Medi care or should we take out extra cover for him because of his condition? He also has regular medication for ADHD, how do we stand on this as well.

Some advice would really help to clear up what we have been told as I am now a bit confused.

Thank you in advance

[alimay68]

Hi there

I had a congenital dislocated hip and had surgery twice as a child. When I applied to migrate on a spouse visa in 1997, I had to undergo a special examination by an independent orthopaedic surgeon to assess my burden on Medicare I suppose. No problems there, but we eventually took out private health insurance, which is more accessible to your average families/individuals in Australia. Besides (and I think it's still correct), you have a 1% levy on your tax if you don't have health insurance. We were with the NIB and they were brilliant. I had a total hip replacement 2.5 years ago and the only requirement was that we had the top level cover for 12 months prior to the surgery. I 'interviewed' three surgeons and chose the one I felt most comfortable with. He did a fantastic job and I was in a private hospital in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, room to myself, great staff and aftercare. We had about $5k out of pocket expenses, but it was well worth it, even if I did grumble about the anaesthetist's fees at the time!!!!

We all also got two free dental check ups/scale and polish each year (had to go into the city for this).

Can recommend thoroughly recommend NIB. Having said that, Medicare is a great system too - I had both my kids through Medicare and they were terrific. A friend of mine's daughter had leukaemia in Prep and they'd only been in Australia for a few years. The Royal Children's in Melbourne was, and still is, marvellous to both Mum and daughter. Same friend has secondary breast cancer - the treatment is exemplary. Her folks also emigrated almost 2 years ago and Dad has had treatment on Medicare for a pre-existing complaint.

I'm just going from experience here - you might find a few more answers on the Medicare website and others might have their own experiences to share with you too.

Good luck!!!

Hi All
Just wanted to ask a question and hoped someone could help.
Our son has Perthes disease and has received regular check ups at the hospital. We have now been told by the consultant that he does not need to be seen again until he is 15yrs old, and this would be for a bone scan.
My question is as we hope to make the move to Oz this year, which Medical cover do we go for? will he be covered by Medi care or should we take out extra cover for him because of his condition? He also has regular medication for ADHD, how do we stand on this as well.

Some advice would really help to clear up what we have been told as I am now a bit confused.

Thank you in advance

[Ken]

You'll need to check with the insurance company the exact impact of this particular pre-existing condition. Generally there will be an exclusion period (which can vary by insurance company and by condition) in which no treatment will be paid for that is connected to that condition - but cover can begin after that (perhaps at a premium). Some conditions however are never covered (or only by some insurance companies) so you would have to ask the insurance company.