Guest kevin1986 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Hi, i have been looking round and am a little confused as to whats best medi-care or health insurance. or is it best to take both out to cover the short falls. i am also aware that some jobs come with health care. so does this change anything with medi-care am just curious if its best to take both or just to have the one, Can anyone help me with this. Thanks Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Everyone is in medicare and a levy is deducted from salary to cover this. Depending on what people earn it changes. High family income attracts extra levy if people do not have health insurance. Medicare has a web site with all the information. If admitted to a public hospital as a public patient all costs are covered by medicare. Private health insurance does not come cheap and it covers hospital stay etc in a private hospital and public hospital only. Medicare covers the doctors fees in a private hospital. However the medicare fee is then inflated by the doctors in private health, say you get an op and the surgeon is paid a thousand dollars by medicare then he will charge you an extra thousand over the top, its called the gap, some people take out insurance to cover it this making the health insurance very very expensive. I have just had an op in a private hospital with private health cover and my gap to be paid is about three thousand dollars. I will be able to claim some of this of tax this year about 22 cents in the dollar. Health insurance has to be taken out by the age of 31 to avoid a penalty of 2 percent extra for every year afterwards. So people rush in, but if you do the sums, when people are young they probably do not use it much as if hurt in a car crash covered by the motor accident i e registration. If at work covered by work cover etc. However when you get older like me and need bits replaced paying the extra 2 percent for age is still cheaper in the long run. For private health insurance you have to be in a fund for 12 months before any pre existing condition can be treated., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azim Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Everyone is in medicare and a levy is deducted from salary to cover this. Depending on what people earn it changes. High family income attracts extra levy if people do not have health insurance. Medicare has a web site with all the information. If admitted to a public hospital as a public patient all costs are covered by medicare. Private health insurance does not come cheap and it covers hospital stay etc in a private hospital and public hospital only. Medicare covers the doctors fees in a private hospital. However the medicare fee is then inflated by the doctors in private health, say you get an op and the surgeon is paid a thousand dollars by medicare then he will charge you an extra thousand over the top, its called the gap, some people take out insurance to cover it this making the health insurance very very expensive. I have just had an op in a private hospital with private health cover and my gap to be paid is about three thousand dollars. I will be able to claim some of this of tax this year about 22 cents in the dollar. Health insurance has to be taken out by the age of 31 to avoid a penalty of 2 percent extra for every year afterwards. So people rush in, but if you do the sums, when people are young they probably do not use it much as if hurt in a car crash covered by the motor accident i e registration. If at work covered by work cover etc. However when you get older like me and need bits replaced paying the extra 2 percent for age is still cheaper in the long run. For private health insurance you have to be in a fund for 12 months before any pre existing condition can be treated., so how are the public hospitals compared to private? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kevin1986 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 so if i have medicare as a rule and I'm admitted public hospital and treated by a public doctor then this is covered by my medicare and then therefore will have no gap to pay on discharge ? so i don't fully understand how the private sector gets involved, unless pacifically asked for? thanks kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 so if i have medicare as a rule and I'm admitted public hospital and treated by a public doctor then this is covered by my medicare and then therefore will have no gap to pay on discharge ? so i don't fully understand how the private sector gets involved, unless pacifically asked for? thanks kev Yes, you nominate that you have private health cover. It's most often used for elective procedures like hip/knee replacements, obstetrics, gall bladder removal etc - anything that isnt urgent and acute really. The bonus of having private is that you can choose your doctor and your waiting lists may be significantly shorter - as well as having your own room or shared room rather than multi bed ward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 The private sector in Aus works the same way as in the UK. Basically if you have private insurance you have a choice of doctor and hospital and get operated on, if need be, asap. With the public system you get treated at your local hospital, by which ever doctor is on shift and if you need an operation that isn't needed to basically save your life it is called elective surgery at which point you go on a waiting list. I think that's the easiest way to explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PityTheFool Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 The private sector in Aus works the same way as in the UK. Basically if you have private insurance you have a choice of doctor and hospital and get operated on, if need be, asap. With the public system you get treated at your local hospital, by which ever doctor is on shift and if you need an operation that isn't needed to basically save your life it is called elective surgery at which point you go on a waiting list. I think that's the easiest way to explain it. So where do ambulance charges, etc. come into it. Surely this is not classed as 'elective' and should therefore be covered by medicare??? You compared medicare / private in Oz to the UK's NHS / private, in the UK you dont need to have private healthcare and as such the majority of people dont have it, but then we wouldn't expect to receive any other bills for medical care. I think what I am asking is........is private healthcare in Oz a neccessity or just a luxury? It seems to be a very confusing system! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amibovered Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 So where do ambulance charges, etc. come into it. Surely this is not classed as 'elective' and should therefore be covered by medicare??? You compared medicare / private in Oz to the UK's NHS / private, in the UK you dont need to have private healthcare and as such the majority of people dont have it, but then we wouldn't expect to receive any other bills for medical care. I think what I am asking is........is private healthcare in Oz a neccessity or just a luxury? It seems to be a very confusing system! You're right it is a bit confusing, the ambulance is not covered by medicare, you can take out a separate insurance just to cover you for that, the system varies from state to state, you don't have to have private health cover although the government try to encourage you to take it out, and the there is the whole bulk billing thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 So where do ambulance charges, etc. come into it. Surely this is not classed as 'elective' and should therefore be covered by medicare??? You compared medicare / private in Oz to the UK's NHS / private, in the UK you dont need to have private healthcare and as such the majority of people dont have it, but then we wouldn't expect to receive any other bills for medical care. I think what I am asking is........is private healthcare in Oz a neccessity or just a luxury? It seems to be a very confusing system! Basically you don't need it. Depending on what state you live in you may or may not have to take out ambulance cover. It cost us $60 for my wife and I for a year. One more thing is that the dental system is a bit of a mine field and there are so many different levels of cover to choose from. You will want private dental cover if you use the dentist a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VickyMel Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Health insurance has to be taken out by the age of 31 to avoid a penalty of 2 percent extra for every year afterwards. So people rush in, but if you do the sums, when people are young they probably do not use it much as if hurt in a car crash covered by the motor accident i e registration. If at work covered by work cover etc. However when you get older like me and need bits replaced paying the extra 2 percent for age is still cheaper in the long run. Normally health insurance has to be taken out before 31 to avoid the extra 2% surcharge for each year after this age. However, in the first year you are here you can avoid this surcharge and you can join private health care as if you had had full cover since the age of 31. Medicare can give you a letter to give to the insurance company to permit this. We are currently looking into it and it is a minefield and so confusing which means I just keep putting it off. However, being a little (:biglaugh:) over 31 myself it makes a lot of sense personally for us to get some private insurance now to avoid that surcharge as we are starting to creak a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 so how are the public hospitals compared to private? I have no problem being treated in a public hospital, the care is second to none. If you have a problem in a private hospital as a lot of them have no doctors at night and lack of equipment they transfer to public anyway. This happened to my father. He was paying the highest cover, had an op in the private hospital above the Alfred hospital and that night they transferred him into the public hospital as a private patient and he paid and paid. If he had just gone public it would have been zilch. My daughter has multiple medical problems and is treat in the public system and gets the best of care. I only took out private again because I am retired now and my engine and chassis needs work, I am still way ahead in cash terms for the years we did not have it despite the extra 2% as we also saved our premiums into a special account each year and never used the money. If I fall down in the street having a heart attack people do not say "oh who is your doc" "what hospital do you want to go to" no its the nearest public emergency. Ambulance is separate, only pensioners and those with disability get free travel in an ambulance. In Victoria you need to take out ambulance cover. Some private funds will include ambulance. Also when taking out private health you get to elect what you are covered for. If you go overseas have a plastic op and come back get a problem and then want to use your private health they will probably tell you no way as its a pre existing condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 As some of our new migrants have found on here, ambulance cover is a must! In Qld it is charged with your electricity bill but in other states you can take out separate ambulance insurance if you dont have private health cover. All depending on where you live and where the ambulance has to travel you will get a bill at least in the hundreds and possibly in the thousands I think if I were going to do this all over again (we were in the surcharge range so it was a no brainer at the time) I would hopefully have the self discipline to self insure - put away $250 a month into a dedicated account and hope that you never needed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkiegirl Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Qld has done away with the levy on the electricity bills last year, it is now "free!! " (I suppose they have hidden it somewhere else, but at least there is no levy to pay as such.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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