cartertucker Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I know a little about the healthcare system in Australia :idea: But could someone please explain it a bit more about medical & Dental care , with regard to costs for Familys etc :confused: Many thanks in advance :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Medical is covered by medicare and some GP's bulk bill which means that you do not have to pay to visit them. Others do not bulk bill and this means that you will have to pay an extra amount over and above the refund I think I pay about fifteen dollars extra each visit to my doctor. If you are hospitalised as a public patient then you will not have to pay anything, also if you saw specialists through the public system in the hospital out patients it would be bulk billed i e no payment to you. Only costs on leaving hospital would be prescription fees. Dental is not covered at all and it depends on the dentist how much you will pay for dental work. Our dentist is not cheap but he is good. Health insurance covers you for hospital room and theatre costs in a private hospital. Medical costs will be part paid by medicare, I say part paid because specialists tend to up their fees above what medicare will pay in a private hospital and you pay the gap fee. Health insurance also has extras cover which will go towards the costs of dental, physio etc. We used to have it but to be honest we thought it was not worth it. Its complicated but you soon get the hang of it and the hip pocket will dictate where you choose to see a GP. We personally have always had a medical savings account and put funds into it each week have done for years as if we do not use it the money is ours. Prescription costs are around $33 and can be more for some drugs and less for others. Have a look at the medicare site and the health site for the State you are headed to and you will get all the information there. Also you can look at the PBS site to see if your drugs are available here in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 In addition - the basic medicare levy is 1.5% of your taxable income and it is one of those things that gets "adjusted" at tax time. If you and your family are high income earners then there may be a medicare surcharge of 1% of taxable income if you dont have private hospital insurance. Health insurance is definitely more appealing if you fall into that tax bracket or IMHO if you know that you are going to need elective surgery at some point in your life (and which of us knows that???!) Access to public specialists and time frames for elective procedures vary by location - Canberra is notoriously bad for bulk billing doctors, public specialists and huge waiting lists for elective surgery but other places arent so bad apparently. You can get dental insurance as part of your private hospital cover but it doesnt pay much and if I had my time over, I would be self insuring - putting the $250 a month I have been paying the insurance fund, into a special savings fund. Might be a bit late now though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 In addition - the basic medicare levy is 1.5% of your taxable income and it is one of those things that gets "adjusted" at tax time. If you and your family are high income earners then there may be a medicare surcharge of 1% of taxable income if you dont have private hospital insurance. Health insurance is definitely more appealing if you fall into that tax bracket or IMHO if you know that you are going to need elective surgery at some point in your life (and which of us knows that???!) Access to public specialists and time frames for elective procedures vary by location - Canberra is notoriously bad for bulk billing doctors, public specialists and huge waiting lists for elective surgery but other places arent so bad apparently. You can get dental insurance as part of your private hospital cover but it doesnt pay much and if I had my time over, I would be self insuring - putting the $250 a month I have been paying the insurance fund, into a special savings fund. Might be a bit late now though. Its amazing when you opt to have some day procedure done and pay that the docs charge less. Also if you opt to do this different private hospitals have different fees. Mum had her cataracts done for half the cost of another private hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ph0en1x Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 In regards to doctors. If they do not Bulk Bill and they charge you $60 per visit you will get $34 back from Medicare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janine the party queen Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 The one I use charges $72 and you get back $32. The one I used in Sydney charged $75 and you got back $35. So I think it just depends on where you live and what doctor you use. I was referred for a hand x-ray a couple of weeks ago $92 with nothing back if however I had been referred through the E.D at the hospital it would have cost nothing. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to medical charges here.I think it's down to the luck of the draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebrol Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I've found it is best to shop around for Doctors over here. For example we have found 2 excellent docs in one of the local medical centres. They bulk bill, but most importantly they are fantastic and expecially good with our children. Some docs not so great - same as UK really. Our dentist charges $65 for a basic check up and $150 for a check up and filling. But dental work on the whole is quite expensive if you need more complicated things done. There are places that see children for free but I don't know how good they are. Our dentist charges $30 for child check-ups. As others have said if you need anything done by specialists it can pay to see a specialist to get a quicker referral. My daughter saw a specialist for a squished finger and it cost $180 but got about $90 back from medicare. However, she needed an op and the specialist arranged this for the following day. If I had just gone to A&E would have been free but would have been put on a waiting list. I think initially I found it annoying that I had to pay for some medical treatment, but in the UK it was virtually impossible to see my doctor when I needed to and always really annoying when the kids got sick on the weekend. I love the fact that I can see a doctor the same day and that includes Sat and Sunday at the medical centre we go to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren&liz Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Hi cartertucker Don't know much about doctors but have had to take my 9 year old to the dentist as he had an infection in a tooth due to an accident on his bike. Went to a private dentist who charged $95 to check him and do one x ray. She then said I would need to see a specialist and it would cost $1000. Nearly fainted. Anyway, one of the other mums told me that there is a school dentist and to try them. I got an appointment and the dentist was great. Told me everything the private dentist had said was wrong and would need done, also took more x rays. She said did not need specialist but did need some specialised work which they could do. Treatment started last week, they were fantastic with Ethan and the cost is totally free. Liz x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 Hi cartertucker Don't know much about doctors but have had to take my 9 year old to the dentist as he had an infection in a tooth due to an accident on his bike. Went to a private dentist who charged $95 to check him and do one x ray. She then said I would need to see a specialist and it would cost $1000. Nearly fainted. Anyway, one of the other mums told me that there is a school dentist and to try them. I got an appointment and the dentist was great. Told me everything the private dentist had said was wrong and would need done, also took more x rays. She said did not need specialist but did need some specialised work which they could do. Treatment started last week, they were fantastic with Ethan and the cost is totally free. Liz x Wow! :shocked: Just goes to show...' its not what you know, its who you know' :wink: Hope Ethan is feeling better :hug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackboots Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 i am seriously thinking of doing what Quoll says we have had private for ages and so many people keep saying why .. just go with ambulance cover .. and its all the extras you have to pay if you go private ? Also is it better to have private with young children or not ... totally confused ! the dentist leaves me worried about the cost .. and people have also said they don't pay out a big amount ..is it really worth it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebrol Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I agree with you Jackboots - totally confusing but when I have looked into private for us because of our children the figures don't stack up for us. As Quoll and Petals say better off putting money into a regular savings account, especially if you don't reach the salary threshold for the extra tax if not in a private fund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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