BendigoBoy Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 50 minutes ago, Marisawright said: How many medications are they on? In the UK they get their prescriptions free. In Australia, they'll have to pay for them. It's $7.70 per item, and that can mount up over a year. Happy to stand corrected, but isn't there a maximum cap of something like $1500 or so that you pay in prescriptions before Medicare steps in and picks up the tab for the remainder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 31 minutes ago, BendigoBoy said: Happy to stand corrected, but isn't there a maximum cap of something like $1500 or so that you pay in prescriptions before Medicare steps in and picks up the tab for the remainder? There is, but you've got to keep paying out until you reach that cap. For some people (and it sounds like the OP's family might be in that category), even that would be too much. And it's already a lot more than they're currently paying (which is zero). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerVoice Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 8 hours ago, bluequay said: Yes you can but you won't get the annual cost of living uplift if you move to Australia as it doesn't have a social security agreement with the UK. It is frozen at the amount you received when you leave. 1 hour ago, Marisawright said: Yes you can, BUT there's one snag. If you look at the article you linked to, it says that: Depending on which country you move to, your pension may be frozen at a certain rate or linked to the cost-of-living. Australia is one of those countries where it's frozen. Whatever figure they're getting when they move to Australia, that's the figure it will stay at forever. No increases. Can you imagine how they'd be managing now, if they still had to live on the pension they were getting ten years ago? I wonder how many who retire overseas 'accidentally forget' to tell the DWP that they've moved? It would be very easy to change your correspondence address to that of a family member or close friend. From what I recall about my mum receiving the state pension, there's hardly any correspondence apart from the odd letter about cost of living increases or some additional benefit that will be paid, such as the Winter Fuel allowance. As a matter of curiosity, do you still receive the latter if you live overseas? I guess it might help with aircon bill in summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BendigoBoy Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 2 hours ago, Marisawright said: There is, but you've got to keep paying out until you reach that cap. For some people (and it sounds like the OP's family might be in that category), even that would be too much. And it's already a lot more than they're currently paying (which is zero). Absolutely; zero is a far more preferable price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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