bwatt99 Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I may have asked this a few times in past but its regarding private health cover is it really required or medicare enough, I arrived here last june 1st and I just remember something about you get upto 12 months to get it or you get charged 2% for ever year over 32 I take as the 1st june has past im too late?Or can I still get it.time has flown by since arriving and just wanted a heads up on it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencio Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Yes, new migrants have only 12 months to decide to take out hospital cover. After 12 months you'll have to pay 2% 'loading' for every year of age. You're over the time frame of 12 months. You still can take out extras/ancillary cover only whenever it's suit your needs or not. We did it for dental and ambulance, because ambo is not covered in many states and we wanted to avoid the 'expensive ride'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 The main thing I would ask is where are you heading, if to a big city like Melbourne or Sydney then I wouldn't bother (although always check you have ambulance cover) if you are heading to a smaller area then take it out. I never needed it until I moved to Cairns. because we don't have many specialists here or the ones they have don't have any idea its a trip to Brisbane as our closest main public hospital (we have Townsville but they don't do complicated either). For me I headed to Sydney and will probably be back there again in three weeks, so am thankful of the insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvesaussie Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 if you dont take it out for 5 years you save 500%, will take a long time for those 2% to add up to that.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 if you dont take it out for 5 years you save 500%, will take a long time for those 2% to add up to that.. But if your 15 years over 32 it doesnt take quite as long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notts Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 But if your 15 years over 32 it doesnt take quite as long! And once you start paying it you pay it until you have had cover for 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy1 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 We are back here after 24 years on an RRV as PR's. Do we still have the 12 months to sign up for private health. If anyone knows it would be great or any suggestions for Private Health insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwatt99 Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 I contacted hcf as i read somehwere they was able to help someone who just passed the 12 months and started the policy from the month it started ie i should have seen about on or before 1st june,but my problem is if its really required and what sort of cover i would need,been a crap year as in work and not really got on my feet since arriving so,paying this would be more strain on paying out more money,then again my luck might be changing and start earning and get regular work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwatt99 Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 I noticed this on private health site,how does one know when the signed up for medicare? its got on my card expire 05/2018 but surely it cant be from 05/2013 as i did not arrive in australia until 1st june and im not sure when i applied for it after that may have been a week or two after cant rememeber,this is what i read. I've just become a permanent resident; can I purchase private hospital cover without Lifetime Health Cover loading? Yes. If you are over 31, you have one year from the date you registered for Medicare benefits to purchase private hospital cover without incurring a loading. See Lifetime Health Cover for further information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notts Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 They send you a reminder just before the year is up, but (helpfully) the letter doesn't actually tell you what your deadline is. I rang the helpline, and they couldn't tell me the date, but arranged to send out the letter that your health fund needs to confirm no loading is payable. I knew I was close, so instead of waiting I went into my local office. After a lot of searching they managed to find the date and produce the letter. (The date is apparently on the 'Group' screen on the system, under 'Date association began' or something similar.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwatt99 Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 (edited) thing is i never got any letter from medicare when my year is up??so what do you recommend?I am registered with gov.au where you can access medicare and all other stuff. Edited June 18, 2014 by bwatt99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubic Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Sorry for the further question on this topic. I'm currently here on a 457 but may get PR at a later date. Does my 12 months start from when I arrived in the country on a 457 or from when I gain PR (if I do)? BUPA say I can't have hospital cover while I'm on a reciprocal arrangement, is this correct? They want to increase my premium to $7000pa for no additional benefits to avoid the 1.5% additional tax on high earners, but that's a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notts Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 thing is i never got any letter from medicare when my year is up??so what do you recommend?I am registered with gov.au where you can access medicare and all other stuff. I guess you will need to ring or visit an office. And check they have the correct address for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cissi Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Sorry for the further question on this topic. I'm currently here on a 457 but may get PR at a later date. Does my 12 months start from when I arrived in the country on a 457 or from when I gain PR (if I do)? BUPA say I can't have hospital cover while I'm on a reciprocal arrangement, is this correct? They want to increase my premium to $7000pa for no additional benefits to avoid the 1.5% additional tax on high earners, but that's a different story. I am on 457, have both RHCA and BUPA hospital cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Sorry for the further question on this topic. I'm currently here on a 457 but may get PR at a later date. Does my 12 months start from when I arrived in the country on a 457 or from when I gain PR (if I do)? BUPA say I can't have hospital cover while I'm on a reciprocal arrangement, is this correct? They want to increase my premium to $7000pa for no additional benefits to avoid the 1.5% additional tax on high earners, but that's a different story. As far as I know, the 12 months starts when you register for full medicare - blue or green card - which you can only have as PR or citizen. We are hoping this us true as we are hopefully soon going from 457 to PR, and haven't had any private cover, when I got quotes it was way more expensive for temp residents so we stuck with medicare only. We are both a good bit over 30 and the new tax year means a higher medicare tax of 2%, so assuming we get good use of the extras (both have glasses & contacts) it should be well worth us getting insurance as PR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I can't get my head around Australian healthcare... Do people have to take out private health insurance or can we get by with Medicare? Or after a certain salary point, it's cheaper to get private cover due to the higher tax? I need an idiot's guide to healthcare... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notts Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) As far as I know, the 12 months starts when you register for full medicare - blue or green card - which you can only have as PR or citizen. The twelve months does start then. You can register for Medicare as an applicant for PR - http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/medicare-card/eligibility-for-medicare-card. I can't get my head around Australian healthcare... Do people have to take out private health insurance or can we get by with Medicare? Or after a certain salary point, it's cheaper to get private cover due to the higher tax? I need an idiot's guide to healthcare... Yes, there is a salary point at which the cost of a basic hospital policy is less than the Medicare Levy Surcharge you pay if you don't have it. Insurance is optional - you can rely on Medicare. Edited June 19, 2014 by Notts add second quote and answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 The twelve months does start then. You can register for Medicare as an applicant for PR - http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/medicare-card/eligibility-for-medicare-card. Interesting! And if we get our full medicare and private health insurance in place by 30 June, do we avoid the surcharge for the full year or a tiny proportion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notts Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 You have to have appropriate cover in place for the whole year to avoid the Levy - it is not pro-rata. (That's why the health funds are all stressing the 30 June in their ads at the moment.) If you do try and get everything sorted in the next 10 days, make sure you get a Lifetime Health Cover letter from the Medicare office, as the health fund will need to it so they don't apply the LHC loading (assuming you are over 31). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Ah, thanks! Hopefully we can sort it with the tax going up next year, we'll just have to suck it up (again) for this year's return but honestly, as 457s we'd have been worse off taking out the extortionate insurance for visitors. Hopefully we'll be accepted for reasonable insurance as applicants too, I think our chances of being granted PR in the next 10 days are slim! Close, but... not that close! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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