Newbie - healthcare concern

[Nigelsmith]

Hi

 

We are seriously considering moving from UK and Oz as we have had enough of the rat race.

 

One of the sticking points is healthcare. We cannot afford private, so its got to be public. Could someone please clarify the main differences between the NHS and Medicare.

 

Any information shall be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Nigel

[Guest]

You don't pay NI in Australia so you may find you can afford Private Health insurance, if you don't take it out depending on your income you pay a Medicare Levy Surcharge and if which in our case worked out more per year than private insurance.

 

Assuming you have a very low income though the main difference is that where NHS is free at the point of use Medicare often isn't. If money is an issue then you can try to find a 'bulk billing' GP and then there is no 'gap' between what Medicare pay and what the GP charges. That is essentially the biggest difference medical services have a fixed rebate from medicare but the providers can charge whatever they like (as far as I know anyway). It is quite normal to enquire what the 'gap' is before having treatment.

 

There are also a lot of treatments that are not available on Medicare - dental is a good example and other treatments such as podiatry and physiotherapy are only available if you are on a healthcare plan. To give you an example my son needed regular physiotherapy, to get this he was put on a Chronic Illness Care plan, that then provided 5 sessions a year (he needed many more) - each session cost $90 and for the 5 covered by Medicare we got back $20-something (can't quite remember) and had to pay the rest.

 

At the end of the year though the amount you have spent on medical care, including prescriptions I think is tax deductible. Prescriptions are not fixed price, so they can be expensive too.

 

Even if you have PHI, you are still hit with a lot of these costs as it essentially covers hospital treatment unless you have an 'extras' plan too.

 

Oh and you pay for ambulances too!

 

Most people take out at least dental and ambulance cover.

[NicF]

You don't pay NI in Australia so you may find you can afford Private Health insurance, if you don't take it out depending on your income you pay a Medicare Levy Surcharge and if which in our case worked out more per year than private insurance.

.

 

There may not NI but everyone pays a Medicare levy of 2% of their income. This is taken out with tax in the same way as National insurance. The Medicare levy surcharge is in addition to this and applies when earning more than a certain amount. You can find more info on the Medicare levy here https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-Levy/.

[Nigelsmith]

Hi there

 

Thank you so much for your comment.

 

Essentially, its the GP services that is the main difference, what about hospitalization? Is there a 'gap' too?

 

Dentisty, optics etc are payable too in the UK, so no difference.

 

Thanks

 

Nigel