paulswin Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 is medicare the same as nhs? Say I (God forbid I dont!) had to have a bypass or something serious like that does medicare pay for it or do we have to fork out? I was under the impression if it's a life or death situation then Medicare covers it but after talking to Aussies who don't seem to know how their system works I'm not so sure!!' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 It covers you as a public patient in a public hospital, but unless life threatening you could have a long wait before getting any operation and you wouldn't have any choice of doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTA Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 It is the equivalent of the NHS yes. To put it as simply as possible, Medicare is fine for life threatening issues and Private health is better for pregnancy and elective surgury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Just to clarify, public hospitals are funded by the state governments and not Medicare, but yes you would be treated for free in them. Some procedures done in public hospitals are covered by Medicare and in these instances you may be asked by the hospital if you would be happy for it to go through Medicare so the hospital can claim additional funds from the Federal government. You won't have to do anything for this to happen except sign a form. Waiting lists for none life threatening public procedures can vary greatly depending on the department that will see you and the area you live in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 You will need to pay some money to go to a GP appointment and Medicare contributes just over half I think now. Some places do bulk bill ( which means Medicare pay the lot ) but obviously appointments at these Doctors can be difficult to get. There is no Medicare for adult dentistry but I think some children do get check ups through schools. I've had a few non life threatening procedures done through Medicare and haven't paid a penny. Also Eye tests are paid for by Medicare and mamograms are free to over 45's or younger if there is a family history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 You will need to pay some money to go to a GP appointment and Medicare contributes just over half I think now. Some places do bulk bill ( which means Medicare pay the lot ) but obviously appointments at these Doctors can be difficult to get. There is no Medicare for adult dentistry but I think some children do get check ups through schools. I've had a few non life threatening procedures done through Medicare and haven't paid a penny. Also Eye tests are paid for by Medicare and mamograms are free to over 45's or younger if there is a family history. I think this greatly depends on your area. We have a good bulk billing practice in our area and you can always get an appointment the same day if you call in the morning and can even book online. They are also open Saturday and Sunday but appointments do need to be booked a couple days in advance for them. We have the "school bus" and are awaiting free dental appointments for the kids as we speak. The system is confusing. We have found that there are a lot of services that are fully bulk billed if you know where they are. For example if you get a referral from the GP for a scan, you can use it at a lot of different places not just the one on the form. So we would've waited about 10 days for a bulk billed scan but wanted it done asap and so went somewhere else the next day and had to pay about half ourselves. We have had to pay very little in terms of healthcare since we arrived and more has been covered than we expected but do talk to people and find out things work in your local area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 It is the equivalent of the NHS yes.To put it as simply as possible, Medicare is fine for life threatening issues and Private health is better for pregnancy and elective surgury. I went public for my pregnancy and got amazing care. I know a few people who went private and didn't. I saw the same midwife the whole time. I know private people who had an ob for the whole time but then they went on holiday the week before they were due without telling them! And if you have any complications you end up in a public hospital anyway. Not to mention you still need to pay thousands on top of your insurance premium. I haven't met one person who is really pleased they went private (and I'm going to two new mothers groups). The main benefit seems to be a private room (which I got going public anyway) and feeling you can stay in longer after the birth of you want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scattley Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 We have just had to deal with a family member having a bypass. We went private and so were in hospital having the operation 6 days after the specialist consult which was two weeks after a hospital admission where we were Informed it had to happen. Had we gone public...the specialist appointment was five months away and the. It could have been several more months before the operation .....yes it would have been free and yes going private there are additional costs that are not covered by Insurance that we have to pay but it meant that it got done within two months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzukiscottie Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Without going into too many details, I had a life threatening issue, which was diagnosed and then dealt with in under 10 days. No messing around. Priority case to save a life. Queues were "adjusted" as necessary and I found myself having the best possible care and post-op treatment. All on Medicare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTA Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I went public for my pregnancy and got amazing care. I know a few people who went private and didn't. I saw the same midwife the whole time. I know private people who had an ob for the whole time but then they went on holiday the week before they were due without telling them! And if you have any complications you end up in a public hospital anyway. Not to mention you still need to pay thousands on top of your insurance premium. I haven't met one person who is really pleased they went private (and I'm going to two new mothers groups). The main benefit seems to be a private room (which I got going public anyway) and feeling you can stay in longer after the birth of you want to. I don't mind if you went public. I'm not going to hold it against you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 It is the equivalent of the NHS yes.To put it as simply as possible, Medicare is fine for life threatening issues and Private health is better for pregnancy and elective surgury. I'm not sure Private health is better for elective surgery, just quicker. And in some cases the only option. And if done in a private hospital you probably get better food and TV programs while you recover. To say it is better implies they will do a better job than on Medicare, which may or may not be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelensvaleHoward Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I had a endoscopy done privately as it was pretty urgent and was disgusted at how I was treated I have not long since had the same procedure again but both ends this time on the public system and was very pleased with the quality of service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Public or private, the health system in Australia sux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Not to mention the private procedure my partner had this week that they tried to add $2k on three days afterwards with no mention of it before hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Not to mention the private procedure my partner had this week that they tried to add $2k on three days afterwards with no mention of it before hand! Whenever I have had ops, I have had to sign "informed financial consent" forms that state clearly what the surgeon's costs are and say that there will be other charges that are not known. Plus, last time, I was given a sack of medicine I didn't need, but for which I paid handsomely when the bill later came through the post. Then there was the clinic that gave me an appointment in late December in the full knowledge that I would have to have a second visit a few weeks later - which they didn't tell me about and which entailed a second excess payment. The clinic told me that if they informed people about the follow up admission, nobody would accept appointments in November and December. I reported this to the Private Health Ombudsman who found that the clinic had acted reasonably because it was my responsibility to have informed myself of the likelihood of a second admission. Hospitals and doctors are purely about making money in Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Yeah. I wish I'd realised how bad they are and got everything in writing before this week! The signed bit did say that the quote was only a quote, could cost more etc but that you would be told at the time. But then they also sent a letter saying any extra work would be 100% fee free. We sent an email asking what happens if extra work was needed and they took that as carte Blanche to just add onto the price, although they assured us (on phone, not in writing) that no extra would be likely to be needed. And then they didn't even mention doing extra before or after! The woman on the phone said the extra charge was because we had asked for extra work via email (ummm no, we aske what happened if they had under estimated what was needed) and that extra theatre time needed to be paid for. It took 3 hours when the quote was for 3-4 hours in theatre! God they make me mad! Who just assumes that they can just do $2k extra work without mentioning either it, or the increased cost and you won't mind paying it? I must admit, I did prefer the nhs where you knew if they said you needed it, chances were you needed it. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTA Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I'm not sure Private health is better for elective surgery, just quicker. And in some cases the only option. And if done in a private hospital you probably get better food and TV programs while you recover. To say it is better implies they will do a better job than on Medicare, which may or may not be the case. So in summary, if you want to jump the cue and want good food and a tv, go private. Yes there are many of examples where people in the public system get better service, which is good, but the private system would quickly die if it wasn't "better". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Decided to have my own health scheme. I will set money aside and use it if needed to buy treatment. Same as we did in UK TBH. We were covered at one time in UK through DH work, but chose on GPs advice to have son admitted to NHS for an op as they had better care and emergency fall back. Only difference was I slept on a camp bed in his private room and nipped to canteen for food. I guess in the private place it would have been nicer for me. There were private patients in main ward in NHS hospital being treated for less serious things. The insurance did pay us compensation though! So we had a nice weekend away when he was better. I talk to people all the time here who pay for private insurance then still pay for treatment on top, whereas if they were not insured they would have paid much less overall. Not even getting ambo cover, I'm still ahead overall as I have never needed one yet in 50 odd years so quids in even if I have to fork out for one next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beddy Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Medicare has been a godsend for me lately .. I've had a few separate health issues where I 've seen my Gp ( bulk billing) at no costs and had various diagnostics tests some by the GP and some referrals which were all free , there was one test I had to have done which wasn't bulk billed but I could claim a percentage back . All tests were done within a few weeks of first Gp visit and results were back within days of tests . I can't fault the care I have received . Medicare has also covered the full cost of a few a& e visits for my OH and one of my children , my child had to go see a specialist which wasn't bulk billing and we had to pay in full and claim a percentage of the cost back . The children also get free doctors appointments at a non bulk billing surgery and an allowance for dental visits but it doesn't cover cosmetic dentistry such as braces . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liliannn Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Anyone can comment for gynae check up like papsmear, colposcopy , US breast. where can I get it done in Perth? If it is included in Medicare ?thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) It covers you as a public patient in a public hospital, but unless life threatening you could have a long wait before getting any operation and you wouldn't have any choice of doctor. ...which, surely, is exactly like the NHS? When I arrived in Australia I was perplexed by how obsessed Australians were with "having a choice of doctor", and the idea that being in a shared ward was somehow unbearable. In the UK that's just normality! Of course, having had a major op in 2013, I did like being able to choose my specialist. But a friend's Dad had the same op on Medicare, with no choice of doctor or private ward, and his op has been just as successful as mine (and free). The waiting lists aren't that different from the NHS either. My sister waited over a year for an op that was classified as "urgent" in Australia (it was diagnosed by a doctor while she was on holiday here). If she'd been willing to stay in Oz for a while, she could've had the op here within six weeks - but she was worried about her cats, so she went home. She got a real shock when she found out how long she had to wait in the UK. Edited February 28, 2015 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 If you get a referral from a Dr here in Oz you can often take it to different places than they refer you to anyway. Lots of people don't seem to realise that. I went to a different sonographer than I was referred to. The hospital later needed to refer me for more scans of my kidneys. I asked them to refer me to the place I wanted to go instead of having the scans there and there were no problems with that at all. So far all my Medicare experiences have been mostly good. My one bad experience (them adding the $2k on the bill with no discussion for an elective surgery) has left a very sour taste in my mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 So in summary, if you want to jump the cue and want good food and a tv, go private. Yes there are many of examples where people in the public system get better service, which is good, but the private system would quickly die if it wasn't "better". My issue with your use of the word better has nothing to do with the service and everything to do with the clinical capability of the people doing the actual medical procedure. While private health may give you a better service in terms of having a nice room etc what it cannot guarentee is that the clinicians actually doing the medical procedure are any better than those doing them in the public system. Now your main concern when having an operation may be how nice the rooms are, or whether the person on reception is friendly, but my concern is more about whether the surgeons are any good at what they do and what will my health outcomes be like. People opt for private because it will mean they can have elective surgery done sooner rather than having to wait. Whether the actual surgery done privately would be better than that done in a public hospital may or may not be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 I have a friend who has private health insurance as she simply doesn't want to be a patient in a public hospital - yes she can be a bit on the snobby side :wink: Anyway, she had to have part of a breast removed so of course that was done in a private hospital but she ended up with an awful infection in the wound and was on a drip (in the same hospital) receiving strong antibiotics for 3 weeks. She stated the care she was receiving was wonderful and she had her private room and nice food but still - private hospitals are just as full of those bug thingies as public hospitals. My husband received the best of care in a public hospital where he had two operations and kept clear of infections there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Anyone can comment for gynae check up like papsmear, colposcopy , US breast. where can I get it done in Perth? If it is included in Medicare ?thanks Pap Smears are done by your GP so the cost of the GP appointment minus Medicare rebate .if no bulk billing. It's also every two years here. Not sure what a U.S. breast is but if you mean a mammogram then that is free after 45 see BreastCare WA. If there is a family history or previous lumps it's free before that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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