Health issues - Would I Pass medical?

[ClaireW]

Hi, just thought I'd let you know we are in a very similar situation at the moment. My husband has IGA Nephropathy which is an ongoing kidney disease, he has just had a check up with his consultant and discussed our plans with him - he said he could give a report that would indicate the prognosis to be reasonably good but our problem would be protein in the urine as my husbands is a constant +3 and apparently they don't like this. I have just emailed ASA who have given us a free assesment and we get 3 free questions, I am still waiting for a reply but it may be worth you contacting them to see what they say.

We are looking at the possibility of paying for my husband to have a medical before we apply for the visa just so we know we aren't wasting about £4k+ This will probably mean paying for two medicals and obviously there is no guarantee but it would give us a little bit of piece of mind.

Also I would like to say thanks to the informative posts on this thread

Claire

[Gollywobbler]

Hi ClareW

Be aware that some agents claim to be experts on visa meds. Then when the whole thing starts to wobble, the truth is revealed. They haven't a clue and all they then do is act as a post box between you & DIAC. You don't get a dime back if their airy assurances at the begining turn out to be nonsense.

I'd suggest asking George Lombard because he has a part time doctor on his team:

Profile | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd.

Cheers

Gill

[Samfire]

Hi im after a bit of advice. We are wanting to apply for a visa but I am worried we will pay the money out for it but i will fail my medical as I have renal damage and high blood pressure. Has anybody else been in a similar situation and what do you think my chances of passing my medical are. Anyone know what grounds they fail you? Its just a lot of money to waste if ive got no chance of passing my medical in the first instance.

Any advice big or small would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Stacey

Hi Stacey,

I'm retired on medical grounds (Hypertension among other things) and I can also vouch for the fact that medical issues are ok as long as (a) they don't put a huge financial strain on the Australian medical system and (b) your medical condition doesn't require frequent overnight hospital stays, where you might deprive an Australian citizen of a much-needed hospital bed. If your renal condition is managed by tablets, or regular visits to the GP for check-ups (reasonably affordable, inexpensive stuff), then you probably don't have much to worry about regarding the medicals. I would suggest however, that you bring as much medical documentation with you to your medical, such as GP letters and consultant reports, to answer any questions that the panel doctor may have on the day. He/she will also include these medical reports which will (a) provide information to DIAC when considering approval of your visa (b) eliminate the need for DIAC to request more information from you at a later date, which will slow up the visa process further. That's what I did anyway, and it worked out just fine! Hope this helps. Best of luck,

[Samfire]

Hi everyone

I will be looking into getting private health care as I have ongoing care in this country and will probably need it forever . Any advice on this also would be greatly appreciated. (Recommendations/cost ect ect)



Stacey
St

Hi Stacy,

I'm with Quinn Healthcare in Ireland (formerly BUPA Ireland) and I contacted BUPA International to find out if I could just transfer my current health insurance over to BUPA Australia (so I would have continuity and be covered for all illnesses that have developed since I first took out my health insurance nine years ago). Much to my delight, I was told that I can do this.

I have applied for a certificate of transfer from my current health insurers. I have to send on a scanned copy of this by email to Bupa Australia and they will arrange cover for us (you pay the first month by credit card) and when we arrive in Australia, we must present ourselves at the nearest Bupa Branch and show our official documentation. Then we must set up a direct debit for further monthly premium payments. We looked at a healthcare package at a higher level than we are covered for at the moment (with extras) and it works out at $208 per month for a family of four(this is nearly the same as I am paying at present in (Euro equivalent) for a much lesser package here at home, so all-in-all, you will probably find things very affordable on the healthcare front). If you need contact numbers for Bupa Australia, please feel free to PM me.

[stacyamy]

Hi Claire and Sam

Thank you very much for your advice and input into my thread, its very much appreciated. Think the best thing is to just go for it and take it one step at a time. If I pass then I will make sure I have very good health insurance in place. It is a lot of money to just fail but think i'd regret not at least giving it a go. Good luck to everyone in a similar position and heres to a happy (and healthy) life in Oz xx

[Jules2]

Hi Stacey,

I'm retired on medical grounds (Hypertension among other things) and I can also vouch for the fact that medical issues are ok as long as (a) they don't put a huge financial strain on the Australian medical system and (b) your medical condition doesn't require frequent overnight hospital stays, where you might deprive an Australian citizen of a much-needed hospital bed. If your renal condition is managed by tablets, or regular visits to the GP for check-ups (reasonably affordable, inexpensive stuff), then you probably don't have much to worry about regarding the medicals. I would suggest however, that you bring as much medical documentation with you to your medical, such as GP letters and consultant reports, to answer any questions that the panel doctor may have on the day. He/she will also include these medical reports which will (a) provide information to DIAC when considering approval of your visa (b) eliminate the need for DIAC to request more information from you at a later date, which will slow up the visa process further. That's what I did anyway, and it worked out just fine! Hope this helps. Best of luck,

Hi Samfire

Thanks for this post, very informative. We have our meds booked for next Friday (28th), so do you think it would be best for my husband (previous heart attack, bypass, stents) to go to his GP this week and get a letter or whatever he can from them... what should he ask for, just a letter explaining his current health and previous conditions, treatment, medication etc... I guess I just answered my own question. Is there anything else we should ask for???

Jules
x

[Samfire]

Hi Stacey,

Well that's what we did - we asked the GP for a comprehensive letter (or copies of whatever he/she has on file from specialists etc.). If you could get something from the specialist or surgeon who performed the operation and monitored your husband's post-op care, that would be good too, as they will definitely look for something like this and will need to know things like percentage of necrosis of the heart (if any), level of severity of the attack i.e. mild, medium, severe etc. and long-term prognosis. My dad had a bad heart attack back in 2004, and he has stents also. He suffered quite a lot of necrosis too and wears the patches and takes a series of tablet form medication to control his health issues. I know that he was given a copy of his medical report (Spanish Hospital, not UK). Would you possibly have received the same? Were you given a copy of the medical report after your husband's heart attack and subsequent surgery?? If so, submitting a copy of this would be excellent. The more information you have the better, providing of course it supports your application and that the long-term prognosis for your husband is good. Best thing to do if you haven't got a copy of the medical report would be to request the GP/Hospital to give you a letter for the purpose of visa medical application, outlining that your husband's medical conditions are unlikely to place excessive financial strain on the State/Territory resources. I would even postpone the medical exams if necessary, until you have this documentation ready to bring with you. Best of luck with it - let me know how you all get on.

[hellsbells712]

I am the main applicant for a 175 visa but my husband has Chronic fatique Syndrome.
Does anyone know if this will pose a problem for his medical. He manages to work as a police officer - short hours, struggles with this but could do a less demanding job. He takes medication to stop him being depressed. He has never been hospitalised for any problem with this and has no other treatment apart from that 1 med.
What classes as an expense in the system. Medicine would cost about $50 monthly.

He will be a house husband, as i am a nurse so i need to work.
Can someone advise and relieve my worries about the medicals.

Ta

[angedoon]

Hi, just thought I'd let you know we are in a very similar situation at the moment. My husband has IGA Nephropathy which is an ongoing kidney disease, he has just had a check up with his consultant and discussed our plans with him - he said he could give a report that would indicate the prognosis to be reasonably good but our problem would be protein in the urine as my husbands is a constant +3 and apparently they don't like this. I have just emailed ASA who have given us a free assesment and we get 3 free questions, I am still waiting for a reply but it may be worth you contacting them to see what they say.

We are looking at the possibility of paying for my husband to have a medical before we apply for the visa just so we know we aren't wasting about £4k+ This will probably mean paying for two medicals and obviously there is no guarantee but it would give us a little bit of piece of mind.

Also I would like to say thanks to the informative posts on this thread

Claire

Hi Claire

Could you please let me know how you went with regards to the protien in the urine? Did the ASA respond? Mum has the same problem and has had her medicals done, they sent her for extra scans and tests etc.

Thanks

Ange

[Gollywobbler]

I am the main applicant for a 175 visa but my husband has Chronic fatique Syndrome.
Does anyone know if this will pose a problem for his medical. He manages to work as a police officer - short hours, struggles with this but could do a less demanding job. He takes medication to stop him being depressed. He has never been hospitalised for any problem with this and has no other treatment apart from that 1 med.
What classes as an expense in the system. Medicine would cost about $50 monthly.

He will be a house husband, as i am a nurse so i need to work.
Can someone advise and relieve my worries about the medicals.

Ta

Hi there

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

The main worry for you won't be the cost of OH's drugs. The worry would be whether the MOC decides that OH would end up receiving Benefits in Australia. "Significant Cost" is deemed to be $21,000 AUD at present. Benefits come to much more than that if you add up the whole of someone's working life and you consider all of them carefully.

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migrat...quirement.html

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committe...lity/index.htm

Have a look at the Submissions to the present Inquiry, I suggest.

Cheers

Gill