What is the healthcare like in Australia?

[northernbird]

I don't disagree with you on that, but whatever occurs in the consultation is strictly private

 

I took my 14 year old daughter to the doctor recently for some girly issues. Not sure why but I left the surgery without paying. THe next 2 days phone calls on my mobile and home number looking for my daughter and asking for her mobile number. The caller wouldn't even tell me who they were and I was not prepared to disclose her mobile number to someone I didn't know. After 2 days they call and she is in. It was the doctor's receptionist looking for payment. As the appointment was in her name they wouldn't even acknowledge she had an appointment with them to me even though I was with her at the time and am responsible for the bill.

[LYNDAMUMFORD]

hubby has had meds for arthiritis changed since been here, now uses Humira injections twice a month. Both consultant & pharmacist advised the drug costs $1800 a month!! BUT we only pay $35 prescription fee. Pay for the consultant & get just under half back through Medicare. We bulk bill & he has blood tests every month at no charge. Also, we are on a temporary visa, so can only get Medicare. The drug has been a miracle change for him, we couldnt be happier

[colinmaclec]

I need some advice on this subject. We are a couple in our 30s with 2 kids on PR. We have been here for 4 months and are yet to take out health insurance. From what i have read on here it sounds like a rip off. I know we will get hit with a higher levy on my pay if we don't take it after a year. But if medicare would cover everything and health insurance only oovers a percentage. Am i not better paying the extra medicare levy instead of health insurance???? Oh and we are all very healthy and have no conditions, I personally haven't visited the doctors apart from my visa med in the last 15 years.

[northernbird]

I need some advice on this subject. We are a couple in our 30s with 2 kids on PR. We have been here for 4 months and are yet to take out health insurance. From what i have read on here it sounds like a rip off. I know we will get hit with a higher levy on my pay if we don't take it after a year. But if medicare would cover everything and health insurance only oovers a percentage. Am i not better paying the extra medicare levy instead of health insurance???? Oh and we are all very healthy and have no conditions, I personally haven't visited the doctors apart from my visa med in the last 15 years.

 

With kids I would ensure you at least have ambulance cover. Last person I knew had to pay almost $700 for an ambulance when they called one.

[colinmaclec]

With kids I would ensure you at least have ambulance cover. Last person I knew had to pay almost $700 for an ambulance when they called one.

 

I have ambulance cover i get that free with a membership i have

[Diane1968]

Hi everyone

My 5 year old attends hospital as she wears glasses. Can you advise me what the procedure is in Australia. Does the GP refer her to a hospital consultant or do I see an optician with her ?

Many thanks

[fish.01]

As it s entirely at the GPs discretion, I'd find that hard to believe. In Geelong, it seems a random scattering of full/part private/public is what you get.

 

Not nit picking, but aren't all GP's private? Asking for a gap payment or not, and who for, is just a private practice choice isn't it and little to do with the govt?

[Que Sera Sera]

I need some advice on this subject. We are a couple in our 30s with 2 kids on PR. We have been here for 4 months and are yet to take out health insurance. From what i have read on here it sounds like a rip off. I know we will get hit with a higher levy on my pay if we don't take it after a year. But if medicare would cover everything and health insurance only oovers a percentage. Am i not better paying the extra medicare levy instead of health insurance???? Oh and we are all very healthy and have no conditions, I personally haven't visited the doctors apart from my visa med in the last 15 years.

It's also for glasses and dentists etc which

Medcare does not cover also braces so I would defiantly have cover for that.

[Fashionably Late]

I have not had to pay for an Xray in Australia (including those not done in a hospital). Some of my daughter's MRI's have had medicare rebates and others have not. I can't seem to figure out the rules with MRI's. Had to pay out of pocket for a CT scan at one place for $1,000 and only got $300'ish back from Medicare but at another place the CT scan was bulk billed.

 

The system is very confusing but the level of medical care we have received here has been better than the places we lived in the US and UK. One of my twins was mis-diagnosed horribly by some of the top hospitals and doctors in the UK and uncovered here quite quickly. We met the Medicare safety net shortly after my eldest daughter's accident so I have loved being able to see doctors privately for very little out of pocket cost.

[dazza9]

Not nit picking, but aren't all GP's private? Asking for a gap payment or not, and who for, is just a private practice choice isn't it and little to do with the govt?

 

No, GP's have to be registered and approved by medicare, the amount they can charge etc are all set by the government.

[dazza9]

Hi everyone

My 5 year old attends hospital as she wears glasses. Can you advise me what the procedure is in Australia. Does the GP refer her to a hospital consultant or do I see an optician with her ?

Many thanks

 

Hi Diane, I have just qualified as an optometrist in Australia after ten years practise in the UK. Australian optometrists (what you call an optician) are more clinical and perform more procedures than those in the UK so your daughter will be fine under the care of an optometrist, she doesn't need to go to a hospital-but if she does the optometrist will refer her.

 

Where are you going to be living?

[northernbird]

No, GP's have to be registered and approved by medicare, the amount they can charge etc are all set by the government.

 

Not sure the charge element of your post is correct. I pay a different amount to friends of mine. Perhaps you mean there is a maximum a GP can charge for a consultation.

[Fashionably Late]

My neighbour is a GP and he said all GP's in Australia (except those solely employed by public hospitals) are private. It is up to them whether they bulk bill or charge a gap. For example his practice bulk bills the elderly as well as children but has a gap for adults. All doctors have to be approved by the government but their fees are totally up to them to set.

[Diane1968]

Hi dazza

 

Thanks for your reply. We arrive in January and will be in Melbourne, looking at Lyndhurst/Sandhurst or Bayside areas.

[dazza9]

My neighbour is a GP and he said all GP's in Australia (except those solely employed by public hospitals) are private. It is up to them whether they bulk bill or charge a gap. For example his practice bulk bills the elderly as well as children but has a gap for adults. All doctors have to be approved by the government but their fees are totally up to them to set.

 

As an optometrist in Australia there is a maximum fee that can be charged, I would be surprised if its different for GPs. If the GP is bulk billing or charging a GAP they are not private as they are claiming from Medicare.

[Fashionably Late]

Private doctors claim from Medicare as well. At least all of my private doctors do. And they can set their own fees up to the limit as you said. But Medicare still gives me a massive kickback now that I have met my safety net. I saw a private endocrinologist in early January and the fee was $400. I got back around $200'ish from Medicare for a private doctor. All my doctors, even my plastic surgeon who is private, has medicare rebates with gap payments and I don't see public doctors.

[Harpodom]

I took my 14 year old daughter to the doctor recently for some girly issues. Not sure why but I left the surgery without paying. THe next 2 days phone calls on my mobile and home number looking for my daughter and asking for her mobile number. The caller wouldn't even tell me who they were and I was not prepared to disclose her mobile number to someone I didn't know. After 2 days they call and she is in. It was the doctor's receptionist looking for payment. As the appointment was in her name they wouldn't even acknowledge she had an appointment with them to me even though I was with her at the time and am responsible for the bill.

They were doing their job properly then, you should be pleased

[Harpodom]

Not nit picking, but aren't all GP's private? Asking for a gap payment or not, and who for, is just a private practice choice isn't it and little to do with the govt?

Strictly speaking, yes they are. What I meant was public=bulk billed, private=private fee (of which some is medicare rebatable). The govt sets the medicare rebates and they dictate how much doctors get paid

[northernbird]

They were doing their job properly then, you should be pleased

 

I was, it was just frustrating.

[dazza9]

Hi dazza

 

Thanks for your reply. We arrive in January and will be in Melbourne, looking at Lyndhurst/Sandhurst or Bayside areas.

 

Good luck and as I say any optometrist will be able to look after your daughter. May be worth looking for an independent practice instead of a chain as they generally can spend more time with the patient.

[Quinkla]

My neighbour is a GP and he said all GP's in Australia (except those solely employed by public hospitals) are private.

This is also the case in the UK. GPs are private contractors who may choose to contract with the health service (which in the UK acts as a monopsony). In the UK they are reimbursed according to list size and the amounts of various procedures they carry out. This is different to hospital doctors who are direct employees of the health service.

[Ken]

I need some advice on this subject. We are a couple in our 30s with 2 kids on PR. We have been here for 4 months and are yet to take out health insurance. From what i have read on here it sounds like a rip off. I know we will get hit with a higher levy on my pay if we don't take it after a year. But if medicare would cover everything and health insurance only oovers a percentage. Am i not better paying the extra medicare levy instead of health insurance???? Oh and we are all very healthy and have no conditions, I personally haven't visited the doctors apart from my visa med in the last 15 years.

 

I'm thinking along the same lines myself. I do use doctors a lot because of my diabetes - but that (and anything that the insurance companies claim is a complication from it) won't be covered by insurance (prior condition) so I'm thinking it will be cheaper not to have insurance.

 

I also don't understand why people think ambulance insurance is a necessity. How often do you use an ambulance? To put it in perspective my motor insurance policy has a $1,000 excess so (if ambulance was included on that which of course it isn't) the whole $700 ambulance bill would come from my pocket anyway. You should only insure yourself against costs you couldn't afford to pay for yourself, for everything else it'll work out cheaper in the long run not to have the insurance (it's called self-insuance and means you pay just the cost, paying the insurance premium means you pay the cost plus the insurance company expenses and profits).

[Wellers and Whitehead]

I'm thinking along the same lines myself. I do use doctors a lot because of my diabetes - but that (and anything that the insurance companies claim is a complication from it) won't be covered by insurance (prior condition) so I'm thinking it will be cheaper not to have insurance.

 

I also don't understand why people think ambulance insurance is a necessity. How often do you use an ambulance? To put it in perspective my motor insurance policy has a $1,000 excess so (if ambulance was included on that which of course it isn't) the whole $700 ambulance bill would come from my pocket anyway. You should only insure yourself against costs you couldn't afford to pay for yourself, for everything else it'll work out cheaper in the long run not to have the insurance (it's called self-insuance and means you pay just the cost, paying the insurance premium means you pay the cost plus the insurance company expenses and profits).

 

I have ambo cover as $40 for the year against approx $700 fee is worth it in my eyes, plus I've been known to need an ambulance or 2 in the past. You never know when you will need one :-)

[Quinkla]

I also don't understand why people think ambulance insurance is a necessity. How often do you use an ambulance? To put it in perspective my motor insurance policy has a $1,000 excess so (if ambulance was included on that which of course it isn't) the whole $700 ambulance bill would come from my pocket anyway. You should only insure yourself against costs you couldn't afford to pay for yourself, for everything else it'll work out cheaper in the long run not to have the insurance (it's called self-insuance and means you pay just the cost, paying the insurance premium means you pay the cost plus the insurance company expenses and profits).

I like your thinking and would agree if the lack of insurance would not inhibit you from calling an ambulance when needed. The thing with a motorcrash is that it is obvious when it has happened and you have no option but to pay expenses. But of you are feeling poorly, it's not so clear cut. Do the symptoms warrant an ambulance call @$900 or would you try to sit it out, hope it goes away and save the $900? Just personally, I'd rather be able to take the ambulance when in doubt and not then fret about the lost $900 if it turned out to be a false alarm.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Quinkla

[northernbird]

I have ambo cover as $40 for the year against approx $700 fee is worth it in my eyes, plus I've been known to need an ambulance or 2 in the past. You never know when you will need one :-)

 

I agree. Anyone who has kids, particularly ones who are involved in competitive sport should get ambulance cover IMO.