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Thanks @Marisawright My mother was visiting over Christmas so I used the visa grant number from that visa for her Medicare enrollment application. My hope was that her Medicare card would have come through in time for the 870 visa. Enrollment in Medicare would suffice to show she has adequate health coverage for the 870 visa. Given this now looks unlikely I have decided to follow @Alan Collett's and apply for private health cover with a deferred start date. I already have the certificate of insurance so will pay the 2nd VAC tonight. Thanks again for everyone's advice!

Thanks Alan. Really appreciate your response. Any particular reason to pay for 3 months of cover e.g. is this a minimum requirement from the Department?

Well I suppose we could pay the 2nd VAC, but we would still have to wait until she receives confirmation of enrollment in Medicare before Immigration will approve her visa so there doesn't seem much harm in waiting to both at the same time, unless I'm missing something?

Ok, I've answered my own question regarding the cost of health insurance for an 870 visa - apologies for not just checking this myself! Perhaps a more pertinent question is, in order to satisfy the health insurance requirement for an 870 visa, does the private health insurance have to begin immediately for the visa to be granted, or can it start at a future date, in keeping with when the holder of the insurance is expected to arrive in Australia?

Hello, Firstly, thanks to everyone who posts on this forum. It has been an invaluable source of information to assist with applications for parent visas on behalf of my mother. For context, we applied for the 143 visa in December 2018 and received a Queue Letter in November last year. In the interim we decided to go down the path of applying for the 870 visa, due to long wait times for 143. My mother was asked to pay the 2nd VAC for the 870 visa late last year, as well as demonstrate adequate health care arrangements. It has now been more that 3 months since I submitted her Medicare enrollment application (she is resident in a country with reciprocal healthcare arrangements with Australia), but we have yet to hear anything from ServiceAustralia. Has anyone else experienced similar delays in enrolling in Medicare? I have already advised Immigration that we are still waiting for a response prior to paying the 2nd VAC for the 870 visa. Also, given that Reciprocal Healthcare under Medicare is only supposed to cover "medically necessary treatment" in Australia for the duration of a visa, which in this case will be 5 years, do most people also apply for private health insurance whilst on the 870 visa? My mother is in her 70s, and whilst she is healthy, there is always the concern that she may require treatment for a more serious condition during her stay here. Can anyone give a rough indication of the annual premium for health insurance for those on an 870 visa? Thanks!