Do i need private health insurance in Australia on skills Visa?

[marie]

Hi,

My husband is English on a skills 189 visa.

I am an Australian citizen from birth.

 

Im really wondering about whether getting private health insurance should be quite important for me to arrange as soon as arriving in Australia? (aswell as medicare obviously which I will do within days of arriving)

 

Im not quite sure how the private health insurance works in Australia. So ifsomeone could clarify that would be great.

[Marisawright]

Im really wondering about whether getting private health insurance should be quite important for me to arrange as soon as arriving in Australia? (aswell as medicare obviously which I will do within days of arriving)

 

Im not quite sure how the private health insurance works in Australia. So ifsomeone could clarify that would be great.

 

You certainly do not need private health insurance immediately - in fact, you may decide not to have private health insurance at all.

 

Medicare in Australia is very similar to the NHS: if you don't have private insurance, you'll still get treated for all serious illnesses free of charge or for a low fee, but you might have to wait for elective surgery. Standards of treatment in the public system are as good as in the private system, you just won't get a private room or be able to choose your specialist.

 

Note, though, that if you don't take private health insurance it could affect your tax, and that's the reason many Australians do have it. You've got a year to decide from when you arrive in the country, I think.

[Loulou]

Yeah thats right iam also on a 189, we are all registered with medicare but i have decided to opt for extras insurannce only at present for dentist etc as these are quite expensive. I have 1 year to think about and look in to the benifits tax wise before it would affect us. Good luck.

[Croft]

If you don't take private insurance the Medicare levy surcharge may apply (if you and your family earn over a certain amount - it steadily rises over $180,000 combined income). Your private insurance can be partially offset by the Private health insurance rebate, but most people still seem to pay about $400 a month for a family. It's not cheap and some decide to forgo it.

 

If you decide not to taker it out watch out for the Lifetime health cover (LHC) charge. If you later decide to take out insurance (as an arrival more than a year after arrival or as an Australian after age 31) each year attracts an extra 2% on your hospital cover premium, eg a person who waits until they are 40 years old could pay an extra 20% on the cost of their hospital cover. If they wait until they are 50 years old, they could pay 40% more. The maximum LHC loading that can be applied is 70%.