Parent Migration & Future Health/Care Costs

[youngfreewild]

My parent is waiting on a 143 visa to move to Australia. 

They have no funds themselves therefore the cost of the visa will be paid for by myself and once in Australia, all cost of living etc. will need to be paid by me. They are not working and won't be working when arriving in Australia. 

I understand they won't be able to claim any Centrelink benefits for the first 10 years, but will receive medicare benefits. 

I would like to gather more information so I can best prepare myself and ensure I can support them financially if they move to Australia. 

They will be UK pension age by the time they come here but that will be their only source of income. Excluding rent, I am hoping that will be enough for them to live off - food/bills/fuel etc. 

I believe the UK pension will still be payable once here, but what happens with the Australian pension, they wouldn't be entitled to that would they? 

What I would like more info on mainly I guess is considerations for the next 10+ years, what happens if/when my parent needs additional care in this country, how does that all work here? I know in the UK they would be covered under the NHS system, and although I don't like the thought of it I know the cost of a care home / in home care would be paid for by the government. Also in terms of medicare benefits, I've never really had to use any of this myself but can I assume my parent would receive basic cover for all/any health issues they may have here as soon as they arrive? Would they need extra health insurance? 

If anyone has any other thoughts to share / add - things I should think about but haven't they would be most welcome. 

Thanks

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, youngfreewild said:

in terms of medicare benefits, I've never really had to use any of this myself but can I assume my parent would receive basic cover for all/any health issues they may have here as soon as they arrive?

Yes, they are covered straight away.  They don't need extra health insurance.  A lot of Australians think private health insurance is a necessity because it's such a common thing, but I know a lot of elderly people who have never bothered with it, and have received excellent healthcare for serious health conditions in the public system.  Yes, the public system can have long waiting lists for some things, but it's no different from the NHS in that regard. 

The thing to remember, though, is that even the public system isn't completely free in Australia, unlike the NHS.  Most GPs charge more than the Medicare standard fee now, so they'll have to pay the extra every time they see a GP (which could be anything from $10 to $90).  Having private health insurance wouldn't help with that, because it only covers hospital treatment.  They'll also have to pay for prescriptions.   Even if your parent is healthy, they may be taking blood pressure tablets, statins, or other regular medications which can be very expensive in Australia.  As an example, my asthma puffer costs $40 and I need a new one every month. Pensioners do get cheaper prescriptions but I'm not sure if your parent would qualify.  

1 hour ago, youngfreewild said:

I believe the UK pension will still be payable once here, but what happens with the Australian pension, they wouldn't be entitled to that would they? 

Yes the UK pension will be payable in Australia, however it will be stuck at whatever rate they're getting when they move to Australia. They will never get any increases, so it will slowly dwindle in value as the cost of living increases.   I would be doubtful whether it will be enough to live on in Australia, TBH.   The good news is that I believe they will be entitled to claim some Australian pension in 10 years' time however, because it's based on residency not contributions.

[Ausvisitor]

Private insurance is so common because of the Medicare levy surcharge.

My surcharge would be over $6k. The cost of my (relatively minimal) health insurance is $3.5k per year.

So already saving $2.5k. Then we get $400 optical and about $1k dental (we are entitled to more but haven't needed more) that we use.

Would also need ambulance cover at $150 I'd we didn't have private medical.

So out insurance premium after taking out repayments and ambulance cover is $2k but saves us $4k+ in tax

So whilst I don't agree with private healthcare, I am certainly going to keep paying for it whilst it saves me that sort of money, I'm sure I'm not alone...

[Marisawright]

9 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

Private insurance is so common because of the Medicare levy surcharge.

However in this case, we are talking about someone who's retired, with the pension as their only income.  The Medicare surcharge is only payable if you earn more than $90,000 a year.

[ramot]

4 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

However in this case, we are talking about someone who's retired, with the pension as their only income.  The Medicare surcharge is only payable if you earn more than $90,000 a year.

 

I don’t know if parents who are here on the ‘ normal’ the parent visa are eligible for the PBS safety net during their first10 years here? because in our case, as our parent visa had different conditions to the regular parent visa, we didn’t need to lodge money with Centrelink, so when. we reach the safety net amount for cheaper prescriptions, usually by June, we sadly need more meds as we age, most cost$6.80 each for the rest of the year. 

 

[Ken]

On 29/12/2022 at 08:49, Marisawright said:

However in this case, we are talking about someone who's retired, with the pension as their only income.  The Medicare surcharge is only payable if you earn more than $90,000 a year.

That's for a single person. For a couple it's a combined income of $180,000 sliced any which way (and slightly higher for couples with two or more dependents - but obviously that doesn't apply to a retired couple).

Edited December 30, 2022 by Ken

[LindaH27]

On 28/12/2022 at 01:43, youngfreewild said:

They will be UK pension age by the time they come here but that will be their only source of income. Excluding rent, I am hoping that will be enough for them to live off - food/bills/fuel etc. 

I believe the UK pension will still be payable once here, but what happens with the Australian pension, they wouldn't be entitled to that would they? 

What I would like more info on mainly I guess is considerations for the next 10+ years, what happens if/when my parent needs additional care in this country, how does that all work here? I know in the UK they would be covered under the NHS system, and although I don't like the thought of it I know the cost of a care home / in home care would be paid for by the government. Also in terms of medicare benefits, I've never really had to use any of this myself but can I assume my parent would receive basic cover for all/any health issues they may have here as soon as they arrive? Would they need extra health insurance? 

If anyone has any other thoughts to share / add - things I should think about but haven't they would be most welcome. 

Thanks

Care homes fees /in home care are definitely NOT always paid for by UK govt unless for truly exceptional needs   - weekly care home costs are often in excess of £1000!! Once any funds from savings, sale of house are exhausted they do step in but you wouldn’t get a choice of home - it would be the cheapest. 

I  doubt Australian govt  will pay the full costs either , likely to be means tested. Couldn’t claim Australian pension for ten years and It’s also means tested. You as sponsor promised to support them. Should parent need income support before 10 years they could claim but Centrelink will take that money from the $10k Assurance of Support you have to pay before grant and you wouldn’t get anything back after the 10 years it’s held for  
. Australia is more expensive than UK for most things so their pension won’t go as far there as it would in UK. Prescriptions and Medicines  are free for over 60s in UK  but would have to pay in Australia and most  older people are on a Variety of medication. Ive also see many posts where pensioners are returning home to UK because they cannot live on their frozen UK  pension 

Unfortunately  this is why Australian govt are not  keen on letting many elderly parents in - because of the costs to Australian taxpayers. 

Edited January 1, 2023 by LindaH27

[youngfreewild]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

What happens after 10 years of living here, if the parent can then claim the Australian pension, would they still also be able to claim their UK pension? So receive both or does the UK one stop?

[LindaH27]

1 hour ago, youngfreewild said:

Thanks for your replies everyone.

What happens after 10 years of living here, if the parent can then claim the Australian pension, would they still also be able to claim their UK pension? So receive both or does the UK one stop?

They can claim UK pension and if they apply for Australian pension they would be expected to claim UK pension if they hadn’t already done so to reduce the burden in Australia taxpayers.  It would be taken into account. I believe they lose 50c in the dollar of the Australian pension when they take UK pension into account. UK pension will be frozen at the rate when they leave UK to live in Australia. Parent would need 35 years contributions to get full rate UK pension. Less than that but more than 10 years would give a reduced rate of pension. Australian pension doesn’t require contributions but means  testing everything / all your assets whatever they are although there are some exemptions. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by LindaH27