Medicare

Hi all

I'm getting more and more confused about medicare. I know that migrants from the UK can access medicare as soon as they arrive but I can't seem to find out about costs. I have seen a reference in a self help book to a charge of 6,000 dollars a year, on a different page of the same book I've noticed a reference to 'the 1.5% medicare levy' added to income tax and have been told that we need to take private health insurance at least for ambulance cover.

HELP!

We are two reasonably healthy over sixties planning to join our daughter in Australia at some as yet undefined point in the future, but probably late this year and we are trying to work out a budget. The figures are in for most things, but we cant seem to put a figure on health care.

Can anyone give us a rough idea of how much its likely to cost annually?

Thanks.

Hi all

 

I'm getting more and more confused about medicare. I know that migrants from the UK can access medicare as soon as they arrive but I can't seem to find out about costs. I have seen a reference in a self help book to a charge of 6,000 dollars a year, on a different page of the same book I've noticed a reference to 'the 1.5% medicare levy' added to income tax and have been told that we need to take private health insurance at least for ambulance cover.

 

I'm bumping up my own post in the hope that someone might reply - even a hint about the likely costs of health insurance would be helpful... Please???

I honestly can't help you as I don't know what your visa gives you or what you can access on it. Does it not work like other visas that have access to Medicare? Its a permanent visa isn't it?

Our family has private cover but we do this to avoid the loading. We have ambulance cover included. We opted to scale back our cover as we just didn't make use of it enough but kept the things important to us. As yet I've not really ever used anything off the private cover as we have a bulk billing GP and when we have had X rays and ultrasounds these were bulk billed also. Otherwise we would have paid the difference on them. We pay the full price for medication so shop around and use the generic brand over the named brand as its usually cheaper.

ETA, your visa class says you can enrol in Medicare. You can do this after arriving. I had to provide passport and full visa grant letter including the header and signature and name of CO. If you can find a bulk billing GP its a bonus as you don't pay the difference, but if you can't it shouldn't be hard to find one that doesn't charge a huge gap.

https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/subjects/medicare-services

Ambulance cover. This varies depending on your state of residence. It is a free service in a couple of states but it would be very wise to take cover in all the others.

The medicare levy is included as part of your overall taxation deductions. You don't need to do anything special to pay it. There is a separate medicare levy surcharge but that applies only to people on high incomes who choose not to take out private hospital insurance. The annual income threshold for that is something like $180,000.

Private medical insurance is a very complex issue.. whether to insure, with whom to insure and the level of insurance you want. There are hundreds of different insurance plans, variables include your state and your age, so it is impossible to predict how much it will cost you.

This site has a tool for comparing various plans ...and also some helpful general hints about choosing:

https://www.canstar.com.au/health-insurance/

There is no need to rush, you have a year to take out care without triggering excess for being over 35.

Did you have private cover in the UK? If not think hard because the public system here is not unlike the NHS ( good and bad!). The main difference is that front line access is not always free. Basically the GP/ other service get a payment from the gov for each patient. If they choose to charge you more you pay the difference ( known as the gap). So when you hear bulk bill that means the service is free with no fee to you.

Some like to go to a particular surgery where there will be a gap payment say 20-40 dollars to pay.

We decided against private ( in our 50s) and not earning over the threashold now as semi retired. We have savings if we need them and have found that people who have private seem to still pay on top of their subscriptions for things we can get free or cheaper in the public system. Yes they can choose the doc or have a posher surgery etc but.........

Same as with UK we go with the public system and if we wish we can still purchase private care if we want to to speed up access etc.

Also look to the USA where over treatment is a problem as people and practitioners seek to get the max from their insurance.

We compared our last couple of years here as I kept a record of all health spending including dental, physio etc. We spent far less than if we had taken out insurance, thousands less in fact even discounting loading for our age. Of course we have not had a major problem but if for instance I broke my leg I would not need to pay out thousands as would be treated in the public sector. In private their would probably have been an excess plus a fee to pay on top.

May be different for a growing family on a high wage but for us reasonably fit couple on lower income no.

Hey mate,

Not too sure about the medicare and what you are/are not entitled to on your visa. Everybody pays a medicare levy (1.5%) of their income, basically a tax. If you earn above a certain about (think it's about $80k at the moment, not $180k as stated above) and do not have Private Health insurance (PHI), you pay an additional 1% of your income (Medicare Income surcharge levy). If you are not entitled to Medicare you can get a cert to be exempt from the levy.

Regarding PHI, you are encouraged to take it out from 30 (ie penalised if you do not have it). There are 2 types of PHI with many different levels of cover, Hospital and Extras/Ancillary. Often sold as a package but are 2 separate products. Extras covers Dental, Physio etc with different limits depending on your plan - Govt aren't concerned about this at all. This is a lifestyle product and you should claim as much as possible

Hospital is the product you hope you never have to use (ie you get sick, need an op etc), it covers hospital admissions, protheses etc. Again, different levels of cover depending on your product. This is the product that determines whether you pay the surcharge or not. It basically enables you to skip the q and choose your own surgeon/consultant etc. Depending on your income level, you do get a tax rebate on your premium up to 30%. The PHI will refund this to at source if you like (ie reduce your premium)

If you have hospital cover from the age of 30, you just pay the premium. For every year after 30 you pay a 2% loading on your premium for 10 years, eg you first take out PHI at 35, you will pay a 10% loading on your premium for 10 years. Now if you are a recent migrant to Australia, you have some time to take out PHI without being penalised, I thought it was 3 months but it may be a year. Eg. you move to Australia at 60 and take out PHI within the 3 months/1 year, thay effectively treat you as taking it out at 30 (effective age for loading purposes). PHI insurers often get this wrong, you need to prove that you are eligible for this. Bupa charged me a 6% loading for 5 years, I moved to HCF and realised I shouldn't have been paying the loading at all. I did get a refund from BUPA once I got the right paperwork together.

PHI does not cover GPs as a rule. Medicare will cover some or all (bulk billing) depending on your doctor.

Clear as mud? Hope this helps

If you earn above a certain about (think it's about $80k at the moment, not $180k as stated above) and do not have Private Health insurance (PHI), you pay an additional 1% of your income (Medicare Income surcharge levy).

I was quoting the figure for families, not singles, as I'm fairly sure Fisher will be arriving with husband. It's $90k for singles, $180k for families.

Thanks everyone for your help, that's a bit clearer now. As we have not even moved yet (!) there is definitely no need to rush or panic, we are just trying to make sure we have all the correct information before we go. I had understood it correctly in the first place, but my husband (you are right Skani ) read something about the Medicare levy and we thought it was a separate payment on top of our income tax. I'm not sure what we'll do about private insurance, but it's good to know we have a breathing space after arrival before we need to decide ... Gives us time to see how the budget is going!

Our main problem is going to be housing ... We wanted to move to within two hours travel of Sydney (after all why move across the world to be near family if you aren't reasonably close to them) Having chosen an affordable location (Kiama) we are now watching prices there spiralling away ... While house prices in North Wales are ... Hmm ... Uninspiring. Still I'm sure we'll find a solution. Meantime, I can cross Medicare off the worry list. Thank you :smile: