Medicare costs

[Neil Morris]

Can anyone give me some rough medicare costs, we are a family of 4 moving to Sydney in the castle hill area, approx income will be 85,000 for my wife and 90,000 for me.

 

Thanks for any replies

[VERYSTORMY]

I am not sure what you mean.

Medicare is the nation health system here, so registering for Medicare is free.

 

There re are things that are not covered, such as dental, which can be expensive and prescriptions vary according to the drug. You should also check if NSW charges for ambulances. I have medical insurance for dental and ambulance.

 

There re can be tax advantages for taking private hospital insurance if you are earning a high income. Do you mean private health?

[Parley]

Its not really free.

You and your wife will pay the medicare levy which is 2% of your taxable income for each of you.

So you can work out how much you will be paying for it.

[le petit roi]

Don't be fooled into believing that if you have Private Health Insurance that all your medical fees are covered. In general, you're still up for considerable costs even with Private Health Insurance.

 

I personally believe its a rort but there's not much you can do but suck it up.

[calNgary]

Unless a stipulation of the visa i personally wouldnt bother with it. I have friends who do have it and they are constantly paying out for things i have done on Medicare for no cost. The only thing i would have (if not living in QLD) would be ambulance insurance.

 

Cal x

[mungbean]

pay the medicare levy which is 2% of your taxable income for each of you.

 

How does this work then? I keep hearing about the levy, but nothing is being taken out of my salary according to my payslips.

 

So is it already included in Income Tax deductions, or does it get taken as a one-off at the end of the year or something?

 

Cheers

[Suzukiscottie]

It gets calculated at the time of your tax return. The Medicare levy gets added on to your tax bill. If you've paid enough tax over the year, nothing more to pay.

 

If the levy, once added to what your total liability for the year would be, means you have underpaid for the year, you get a bill from ATO.

[toOZ2012]

It gets calculated at the time of your tax return. The Medicare levy gets added on to your tax bill. If you've paid enough tax over the year, nothing more to pay.

 

If the levy, once added to what your total liability for the year would be, means you have underpaid for the year, you get a bill from ATO.

 

I am in Perth and the medicare levy is taken out of my weekly pay packet. I like it this way as I won't get a shock during tax time.

 

EDIT: http://www.paycalculator.com.au/

[toOZ2012]

Unless a stipulation of the visa i personally wouldnt bother with it. I have friends who do have it and they are constantly paying out for things i have done on Medicare for no cost. The only thing i would have (if not living in QLD) would be ambulance insurance.

 

Cal x

A reason to have private insurance is to avoid 1% or more in medicare levy surcharge, which kicks in once the family income exceeds $180k. Based on what the OP posted, they are a wee bit short of the threshold but not that far off so have to keep that in mind. Another reason is LHC loading which can be a pain if you want private health later in life.

 

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/Medicare-levy-surcharge/Income-for-Medicare-levy-surcharge,-thresholds-and-rates/