best medical insurance

[dbrown]

hi all.
going to brisbane in 10 weeks and on a 457 visa and would like any recommendations for health insurance. we are a family of four,two adults two chidren and apart from little girl with bad eyesight are all fairly healthy. also wanted to know about medicare as I ahve been told to register as soon as I get to oz but I thought that was why we took out private insurance as we didnt get medicare.
What happens if you need to see doctor or god forbid attend hospital, I hope someone can give some advice
Thankyou

[Jaynie]

Hi,

Is it a condition on your Visa that you can't register for Medicare? If not you should be able to register quite easily if you have permanent residency, some Doctors 'Bulk Bill' which means that you don't pay to see a Doctor, they just swipe your medicare card and you sign for it, others charge you and you take your receipt to a Medicare office and they give you a partial refund. EG My Doctor charges $45 and I get all but $12 back from Medicare. There are no set charges for Prescriptions, you will pay whatever the Drug costs, some are subsidised on the PBS system, but in general it can cost a few bob for medicines. As for private health insurance it depends on a few things, whether you get Hospital cover only or include the extras such as Ortho/general dental etc., If you are over 30yrs of age you will also pay a loading for your age, it's quite expensive, check out on line... Medibank Private, MBF,HBA.

Hope this helps you a little

Jaynie

I came over on a 457 + was told that a condition of visa was private health. we went with HBA and we are still with them!

[Jaynie]

Hi Joanne,

isn't that HBA advert great? Just love the little boy, he is so cheeky!

[Quoll]

You can get a good idea of what is available on the private medical insurance scene from Private Health Insurance Australia - iSelect We have been with HCF for donkeys years (too lazy to change) and they have been pretty good. You can reduce your premiums by going with an excess - the bigger the excess you pay, the smaller the premiums.

[dbrown]

Originally Posted by Quoll

You can get a good idea of what is available on the private medical insurance scene from Private Health Insurance Australia - iSelect We have been with HCF for donkeys years (too lazy to change) and they have been pretty good. You can reduce your premiums by going with an excess - the bigger the excess you pay, the smaller the premiums.

To Quoll and jaynie
thankyou both for your replys, its looks like I have a busy day on the internet. Is it best to get things organised before I leave or when I arrive in OZ
once again thanks

[Jaynie]

If you are over 30yrs of age and have private health insurance in the UK, it might be worth looking on the websites for Aussie Private health to see if the loading can be waivered, I know that when you swap from company to company over here it is waivered, but not sure about OS cover. The sites should also be able to help with your question on when to join their company too.

Hope this helps.

Jaynie

[Gollywobbler]

Hello dbrown

A briton in possession of a subclass 457 visa is treated as a visitor to Australia for the purposes of the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement between the UK aand Oz.

Please see here:

Visitors to Australia - Medicare Australia

Employers in Oz worry about an obligation on themselves to meet all of the sponsored visa-holder's medical bills whilst in Oz, so they go for "blanket safety" for themselves by trying to insist that all sponsored employees (including Brits) must have private medical insurance whilst in Oz.

Which is not necessary in a lot of cases because the Employer is actually only liable for any medical expenses that Medicare will not cover.

Please see Page 8 of Booklet 11, where this is clearly explained. Booklet 11 is here:

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1154.pdf


Best wishes


Gill

[Helaine]

slightly different question, we are going on a 457 visa and i'm on thyroxine that i need to take every day, my GP said he will prescribe 6 months for me b4 we go but will medicare cover the cost once they run out or will i have to buy them over the counter.

[Jaynie]

I think you will have to get a GP to prescribe them for you, I don't know the cost, but I used to be a dispenser in the UK (many moons ago) and I don't think they are a particular expensive drug anyway from memory so you should be fine.