Health System

[teresa]

My son has to have another operation in October on his ear, now I am concerned that with the on-going problem he has, where do we stand with the Australian Health system, will his ear problem be excluded from any medicare cover we take out, does anyone have any knowledge where you stand with existing health problems

[Gollywobbler]

Originally Posted by teresa

My son has to have another operation in October on his ear, now I am concerned that with the on-going problem he has, where do we stand with the Australian Health system, will his ear problem be excluded from any medicare cover we take out, does anyone have any knowledge where you stand with existing health problems

Hi Teresa

Your son will NOT be excluded from Medicare cover for anything if the visa that you have applied for confers immediate permanent residence. Medicare does not cover purely cosmetic surgery unless there is a medical need for it. It won't pay for a boob-job just because somebody reckons that would be trendy. If genuine psychological problems could be solved via it, then it would be considered (but vanity is not genuine trauma.)

The most likely scenario is that the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth will want up-to-date, detailed reports from your son's ENT specialist, so that the MOC can be fully aware of his condition and can assess what his medical and any associated care-needs in Australia are likely to be.

Sometimes the MOC requires people to sign a health undertaking, the effect of which is that they have to visit an MOC doctor (Health Services Australia or Health Assessment Services Australia both provide MOC doctors) pretty soon after arrival in Oz.

The object is that when a new migrant arrives with a known health-care need, the MOC is able to cut a lot of the red tape and ensure that the people are put into the hands of the right medical specialists quickly. It is daunting enough to arrive in a new country with a million other jobs to do without having to run around trying to figure out how to get into the medicare system, how to find a bulk-billing GP willing to attend the person concerned, refer them to the right specialists etc. The MOCs help to cut the red-tape and time-wasting that might otherwise happen.

Do NOT get neurotic about ideas of failing the meds, please! Recently, there ws a thread on another forum involving a child of about 10 who is registered blind in the UK. The MOC asked for detailed specialists' reports etc, but about two months after these were provided, this family now have their visas.

The MOC is there to help your son, not to stuff your whole family up. Any Panel Doctor ought to be able to reassure you about this. I know how the legal end of the medical thing works - having had VERY good reason to study it all in minute detail myself. A PD would understand your son's medical condition, and could therefore do more to reassure you than I can. :) Also, a number of the other ladies who contribute to this forum are nurses. They can probably reassure you as well. I have not got a clue about specific medical conditions, but others on here undoubtedly do have.

Stay Oz Poz, my girl, as a friend of mine has been telling me recently!! :)

Best wishes

Gill

[calNgary]

Other than what Gill has said ,the only thing i can add is ,,try to get your DETAILED specialist reports etc ready to take to the medical with you ,if they list the prognosis over the next 10 yr you may not get sent for further investigation.I too have a medical problem and even though i did enclose a statement from my specialist which the panel Dr said should be fineit didnt state what my prognosis was over the next 10 yrs and i was sent for fyrther 'investigation',,wasnt much of a problem other than another few hundred quid lighter,an extra couple of months wait ,and the loss of hair due to me tearing it out!! if i can help anymore feel free to pm me
Good Luck
Cal x

[teresa]

Many thanks for passing on your information, we do have our visas which are based on Sub Class 134 - skill matching, which are not permanet residency visas, we can only apply once we have lived in Oz for 2yrs, so I will do abit more digging to see where we stand during the first 2yrs. His operation is going to be sometime October (so we have been told) then don't know how long after that before he will be able to fly! So we aint going no where yet.

Teresa

[Gollywobbler]

Originally Posted by teresa

Many thanks for passing on your information, we do have our visas which are based on Sub Class 134 - skill matching, which are not permanet residency visas, we can only apply once we have lived in Oz for 2yrs, so I will do abit more digging to see where we stand during the first 2yrs. His operation is going to be sometime October (so we have been told) then don't know how long after that before he will be able to fly! So we aint going no where yet.

Teresa

He Teresa

Are you sure that the Subclass 134 visa does not confer Permanent Residence immediately? I'm no expert of any sort on the skilled visas, but I've just been looking at the DIMA website. At the top of the cue-card it clearly says Skills Matching Subclass 143 and at the bottom it clearly says Permanent Residence, Medicare etc.

It appears that the sponsor gives an Assurance of Support for two years, and the migrant has next-to-no entitlements to Social Security within the first two years, but Medicare is not social security, and Medicare is available immediately.

Are you sure that you aren't going to Oz on a subclass 457 visa instead, because this latter visa does only confer temporary residence and the holder is expressly excluded from Medicare - which is what you seem to be saying.

There are lots of companies offering health insurance in Australia. Equally, if you tell Google the name of your son't particular condition and then add + Australia, you will get links to support groups run by the Australian-dwelling parents of other children with the same condition.

If you contact some of the support groups, I'm sure they will be able to recommend a health-insurer who understands the condition concerned and does not seek either to exclude it from the policy or to load the premium unreasonably because of it.

The other parents would also be able describe the sorts of care their own children have had from ENT specialists in Oz. In Oz, the treatments and techniques used in a lot of medical conditions are often far more modern and effective than they are in the UK.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes and best of luck

Gill

[teresa]

Hi Gill

Many thanks for your reply, I will check out our visa's and healthcare links that you have mentioned. Will let you know outcome

Cheers