Medicare Registration Issues

[Belle1]

Hi

 

Wonder if anyone can advise on this. We moved to Sydney recently on 457 visas, went to register for medicare this am and we were refused. They are saying we are not entitled under the reciprocal agreement because although we hold British passports we lived in New Zealand as temp residents for the last 2 years. They claim this means we are not entitled to UK reciprocal medicare registration?

 

Has this happened to anyone else and is it an issue?

 

thanks!​

[calNgary]

Id try another day and see if you can get a different person to speak to. New Zealand as far as im aware have a similar agreement with Australia to the UK so i wouldn't have said it matters. Unless you are PR holders you wont get full cover but you will get a basic cover and a card.

 

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/reciprocal-health-care-agreements

 

Cal x

[Belle1]

Id try another day and see if you can get a different person to speak to. New Zealand as far as im aware have a similar agreement with Australia to the UK so i wouldn't have said it matters. Unless you are PR holders you wont get full cover but you will get a basic cover and a card.

 

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/reciprocal-health-care-agreements

 

Cal x

 

Thanks Cal, we are bemused. NZ has a full reciprocal agreement and assuming we had PR or Citizenship there we would be able to just show passport!!! We kept saying we are British citizens not NZ. They said no you lived in NZ so you are not UK residents. They then told us to fly home and come back so that they could then say we had been in UK before moving here??!!!!! I think perhaps we go back and fill the form in saying we were in uk before coming here!!!!!!!!

[AJ]

Technically they are right, even though you are UK Citizens you are not UK residents at the moment and that is what you have to prove to use Medicare under the UK Recipricol Agreement, this is from Medicare Website.

 

[h=2]Criterion 1: Proof of residence in the UK[/h]To prove residence in the UK you need to provide one or more of the following:

 

 

• current UK passport, including a passport issued in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey
  
• National Health Service Medical Card (Great Britain and the Isle of Man)
  
• Health Service Medical Card (Northern Ireland)
  
• Certificate issued by the Social Security Committee of the States of Jersey
  
• proof of insurance issued by the Guernsey States Insurance Authority or other proof of residence in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, or
  
• European Health Insurance Card bearing the initials 'UK'
  

 

If you don't meet the requirements of this criterion, you haven't proved your residence in the UK and aren't eligible under the RHCA.

If you have met the requirements of this criterion the department will need to determine whether you are 'ordinarily resident' in Australia.

 

Try looking up the conditions for a New Zealand resident that may help.

[Belle1]

Technically they are right, even though you are UK Citizens you are not UK residents at the moment and that is what you have to prove to use Medicare under the UK Recipricol Agreement, this is from Medicare Website.

 

Criterion 1: Proof of residence in the UK

 

To prove residence in the UK you need to provide one or more of the following:

 

 

• current UK passport, including a passport issued in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey

• National Health Service Medical Card (Great Britain and the Isle of Man)

• Health Service Medical Card (Northern Ireland)

• Certificate issued by the Social Security Committee of the States of Jersey

• proof of insurance issued by the Guernsey States Insurance Authority or other proof of residence in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, or

• European Health Insurance Card bearing the initials 'UK'

 

If you don't meet the requirements of this criterion, you haven't proved your residence in the UK and aren't eligible under the RHCA.

If you have met the requirements of this criterion the department will need to determine whether you are 'ordinarily resident' in Australia.

 

Try looking up the conditions for a New Zealand resident that may help.

 

Thanks but thats the point! We have UK passports and are not resident in NZ!! They still refused!!

[AJ]

 

Thanks but thats the point! We have UK passports and are not resident in NZ!! They still refused!!

Yup but I have a UK passport but have lived in Australia 6 years so it doesnt mean I am a UK resident! Because you have lived in NZ for two years and you are just coming into Australia from there, its more likely that they will consider you a NZ resident.

[Belle1]

Yup but I have a UK passport but have lived in Australia 6 years so it doesnt mean I am a UK resident! Because you have lived in NZ for two years and you are just coming into Australia from there, its more likely that they will consider you a NZ resident.

 

Yep thats the gist of it they consider us NZ resident but we are not, woman kept saying just show your NZ passport!!!!!!!!. Therefore we have to hope we don't need any medical treatment!!!!!!!!!!

[Freckleface]

One of my sponsored staff had a similar problem after arriving from NZ. They were on a temp visa in NZ so the reciprocal arrangements between Aust and NZ didn't cover them and they had been out of the UK for 3(?) years so weren't covered under the arrangement with the UK either as they were no longer considered residents by the UK either even though they were British citizens.

 

My memory is a bit foggy as it was a few years ago but I think they ended up having to take out some sort of insurance.

[caboodles]

Sorry ... But I'm i reading this correct

If you uk resident ...

Visiting Australia you don't need medical insurance ?

Or you covered by the uk ?

I'm hoping to go in July / august for a year

I thought I needed my own insurance cover

. ??? .. Confused now

[Keith and Linda]

For visiting Australia, you are well advised to have travel insurance to cover the whole of your trip, as this covers other aspects of your holiday, missed flights, luggage, possessions, dental, ambulance and the like.

You can (must) get a 'Medicare card' once you are here which covers you for general medical as in the UK with your GP and hospitals, but not dental or ambulance.

[caboodles]

Thank you x

[Belle1]

One of my sponsored staff had a similar problem after arriving from NZ. They were on a temp visa in NZ so the reciprocal arrangements between Aust and NZ didn't cover them and they had been out of the UK for 3(?) years so weren't covered under the arrangement with the UK either as they were no longer considered residents by the UK either even though they were British citizens.

 

My memory is a bit foggy as it was a few years ago but I think they ended up having to take out some sort of insurance.

 

Thank you, this is exactly what has happened to us and I just heard from someone else on a facebook group it happened to them too. Apparently this is due to us staying in NZ for a while. Doesnt matter how long ago you left UK, if you live in NZ in between this happens. On plus side we found out it does mean we are exempt from medicare levy, which goes towards the cost of the increased private healthcare costs.... Thanks for all the advice