Guest Guest26110 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 As we all know in England medical care is free on the NHS. If you were in Australia and were an Australian citizen, and lost your job and became unemployed, how would you get on with your health care?? Would it be free like in the UK? I really am confused about medicare etc, would someone be kind enough to explain. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AKA63029 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hi folks. The rules and regs around medicare benefits can be confusing, have a look at this link: http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au Such things as pensioner cards ('Pensioner' doesn't mean the same in Aus) are available and this site should give you some thorough advice. Hope it helps. Cheers Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 We are residents and i have never paid for healthcare. I dont have private insurance so use the public system and cannot fault it. The only thing i do pay for is prescriptions. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GilraenH Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 We are residents and i have never paid for healthcare. I dont have private insurance so use the public system and cannot fault it. The only thing i do pay for is prescriptions. Cal x Hi Cal, how does that work? eg my OH is on inhalers and blood pressure medication. He has a brown and blue inhaler and 2 different tablets. What would the 4 items cost approximately and how often does the doc need to prescribe them in Oz? Some GPs here give 2 monthly supplies on a script and others only monthly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hi i use different medication and rather than pay for the script ,you pay for the medication, so i dont know what the inhalers cost sorry. When i go to see my specialist and need any procedures they book them through the public system and you just turn up as you would in the UK, walk in walk out so to speak. I did find in the beginning that unless i requested public i was sent private so always mention it with a new Dr. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GilraenH Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hi i use different medication and rather than pay for the script ,you pay for the medication, so i dont know what the inhalers cost sorry. When i go to see my specialist and need any procedures they book them through the public system and you just turn up as you would in the UK, walk in walk out so to speak. I did find in the beginning that unless i requested public i was sent private so always mention it with a new Dr. Cal x Thank you Cal. Is there a ceiling on the price of meds or if they cost 100 you pay 100? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisme Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Thank you Cal. Is there a ceiling on the price of meds or if they cost 100 you pay 100? The majority of medication a family will ever need is Subsidised by the Government and is on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or PBS for short. All you need to know about that is in the link.. http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/pbs/pharmacists/files/pbs-brochure-2012.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisme Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 As we all know in England medical care is free on the NHS. If you were in Australia and were an Australian citizen, and lost your job and became unemployed, how would you get on with your health care?? Would it be free like in the UK? I really am confused about medicare etc, would someone be kind enough to explain. Thank you. For the most part yes it would. A lot of Doctors Bulk Bill Medicare for services given to low income families, ie. unemployed, single parents, seniors and children under 16, so you pay nothing to see a Doctor. If you have a Health care card, given to those low income people mentioned you also recieve discounted prescriptions where you pay a nominated fee, I think around $4.50 for any prescription. If you not on a low income you will pay approx. $25 to see a Doctor, the amount depends on what the Doctor charges you, Medicare only rebate a certain amount (the schedule fee) I think about $35ish for a general consult, so if the Doctor charges $60 for the consult then Medicare will only give you back the $35 so your 'out of pocket' expense or the 'gap' will be $25. The figures are only a rough estimate but will be correct within $5. You may get lucky and find a Doctor that Bulk Bills everyone, so you'll pay nothing. Public Hospital services as a public patient are covered by Medicare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GilraenH Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Thank you Tisme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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