Private Healthcare in Australia

[Riekie]

This is a fantastic website where you can compare your options regarding private healthcare, hospital care etc. in Australia specific to your own situation & circumstances. www.iselect.com.au

[Mara]

Riekie

I did not want to interfere with your posting, it is excellent, I just think you need to pin it so that it always shows up.

Mara

[Riekie]

RiekieI did not want to interfere with your posting, it is excellent, I just think you need to pin it so that it always shows up.Mara

Don't know how to do that.....

[chatterbug]

Yip Riekie - Agree with Mara very NB info, maybe ask Hendie!

BUG

[Mara]

Hi Riekie

I have looked and looked, but got no wiser, when I did mine on packing, it gave me the option, however, I cannot find anything now, we will have to attract Hendie's attention!

Mara

[ptlabs]

This is a fantastic website where you can compare your options regarding private healthcare, hospital care etc. in Australia specific to your own situation & circumstances. www.iselect.com.au

You can also try this neutral site:

http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/dynamic/searchbyinsurer.aspx

Peter

[Aramat]

Can someone explain to me a bit more about how thing work on the health fund side of thing? I was under the impression that if you come to Aus on a 136 healthcare is free.

What should we expect or what do we need. We are currently on Discovery Health in SA, but it's very expensive.

[Pippa]

Hi Everyone,

In South Africa (I know this lingo is not allowed in Australia… ) you usually have to submit a membership certificate of your previous / current Health Insurance should you wish to join / sign up for a new Health Insurance plan.

The submission may sometimes affect your premium of the new Health Insurance premium if you were a member of a Health Insurance plan prior to signing up for a new one.

I am planning to request a Membership Certificate of our current Medical Aid (Discovery Health) and would like to know whether they might acknowledge the fact that you’ve been with a Medical Aid prior to joining the new Medical Aid (Medical Insurance)?

Since we will go to Australia with a SIR 495 visa, we are currently looking at joining Manchester Unity when arriving in Australia. Is there anyone that has experience with Manchester Unity?

In addition to the above, when signing up with Manchester Unity, you have to select whether to include / exclude a Federal Government Rebate of 30%. When you exclude the rebate it is more expensive than when including it… I don’t really understand this and will appreciate it if someone can explain it to me.

I look forward to receiving your replies.

Lovies, Pippa! X

PS. Aramat, from my understanding, you will qualify for Medicare when you have PR (Subclass 136), but some people still prefer to have additional Health cover.

[Gandalf]

Yes Please can somebody answer aramat...?

On a 136 with PR do you still need Private Medical cover...???

[PROzzie]

Hallo Aramat and Gary99,

As I understand, you will have medi cover on a 136 (you need to register as soon as you can after arrival) BUT, due to the sometimes long wait at state hospitals, the Aus gov, thought it a good idea if you get private medical cover - no wait or not so long at private hospitals. You can be treated as a private patent at a public Hospital it you so decide

You will then covered by BOTH public and private medical care no matter wich hospital or doctor you use.

Regards,

Edited June 12, 2007 by Wannebee

[Dedrei]

Shoe, but there seems to be a bit of a confusion here.

Ok, private healthcare is OPTIONAL on PR visa. If you don't mind what doctor you get and don't mind waiting a while for appointments, public healthcare (medicare) is the way to go. With private healthcare you have the option of choosing your own doctor, not the one that is on duty at the time. ALSO, if you earn more than $50 000 per year, or $100 000 per family/couple you should look into getting private healthcare as the government charges you a medicare surcharge levy of 1% of your taxable income, this is in addition to the normal medicare levy of 1.5%. So it's best to get private healthcare if you earn more than the threshold, wil save you lots of money. Private healthcare also covers all the extras, like optomotrist, dentistry, physio, etc. which medicare doesn't pay for at all.

For those on temp visas. The 30% rebate from the government is not applicable to you. Also your cover won't be the same than a person on PR. You have to search for "overseas visitors" cover. We are with Medibank and for the two of us it costs $310 per month. If we had PR, this would come down to about $180. It costs more, cause the private healthcare is now your medicare in a way, as it has to pay for all your medical expenses (well part there of). This wouldn't have been the case if you had PR.

Hope I am making sense, or is it just clear as mud now?

The popular private healthcare covers are MBF, Medibank Private, HCF.

Also you don't need any letters or stuff from your previous health insurance. Well we didn't have to provide anything. They aren't as strick as in SA.

Have a look at this site http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ Give some great detail to private health and you can compare covers as well. Although you can't compare cover for temporary residents.

Pippa, so julle cover sal die een wees http://www.manchesterunity.com.au/Site/con...QuickInfoID=522

Cheers

Dedrei

[Bob]

Dedrei,

I'll stir the mud a bit more to confuse all our readers.

There are two kinds of "health insurance" . . .

"Medical" insurance, which covers doctors (G.Ps, specialists)

and "Hospital" insurance which covers all work done on folks in hospitals (surgery, etc.)

When Medicare was introduced in 1984, the Labor gov't of the day wanted to scrap all private health insurance and get every Australian covered on public health . . . Medicare.

The Labor gov't tried to make it illegal to insure for any health insurance in Australia, but they didn't have the numbers in the Upper House (Senate) to pass this law, so a compromise with the Democrats was reached so that all "Medical" insurance for doctors would only be covered by Medicare, whilst private health insurers could still cover Australians for "Hospital" treatment.

This is still the case today.

Medicare is the only form of insurance should you wish to visit your local GP or specialist.

You insure privately for "Hospital" insurance only.

This would explain why the difference in premiums is so, because if you are a temp visa holder and not covered by Medicare (therefore not covered for Medical insurance to visit doctors), your health insurance would have to pick up the tab for Medical insurance as well as Hospital insurance also, making the cost more expensive.

As soon as you get PR and have Medicare, you are automatically insured for Medical cover for doctor's visits.

You can get private health insurance only for Hospital cover in Australia.

It's still illegal for any private health insurer to insure you for Medical cover for doctor's visits when you get PR and are insured by Medicare for such visits.

Edited June 12, 2007 by Bob

[Dedrei]

Thanks for the history lesson BOB

Now it all makes sense.

That's why they don't want to take my Medibank card at the GP's office. They have the machine there and are able to claim directly from Medibank, but I must pay and claim it myself from Medibank.

[Aramat]

Thanks everyone for the info!

Bob you have cleared up my question for PR. Thanks

I gather from Dedrei that on a 457 you have to get cover for both Hospital and Gp's etc. I don't understand the 30% rebate Dedrei mention, could someone please explain further?

Thanks

[Riekie]

Aramat, will you be here as TR or PR? (That would determine how the 30% rebate will affect you). In short: TR = don't worry about it, PR = 30% rebate on your private health insurance premiums from the government. Make sense? (If you don't have private health insurance, the 30% rebate obviously does not apply).

You can "claim" your 30% rebate in 3 ways:

1. Reduce your premium to your health fund.

2. Claim it on your annual tax return.

3. Claim it back through your Medicare office.

The purpose of the rebate is to make private health insurance more affordable and to "reward" people for having private health insurance - thus relieving the financial burden on the Government.

[saffer2]

On a 136 visa you have access to Medicare, but Medicare in Australia is not a comprehensive as the NHS in the UK. It does not cover things like dental and so there are quite a large proportion of Australians that take "top-up" cover. All workers (PR and citizens) pay 1.5% of their gross salary as a medicare levy AND an additional 1% of their gross salary (if they do not have appropriate private medical insurance).

We came across a useful site to look at private medical insurance, which may prove beneficial to 457 and 136 visa holders.

www.iselect.com.au

[Bob]

At the very least, you would be wise to consider joining a private health fund just to get cover for what Medicare does not cover:

Dental

Chiropractic

Physio

Optical

Ambulance

Speech therapy

etc, etc, etc.

You don't need a medical certificate of any kind in Australia to join a private health fund.

Why?

Because Australians are "community" minded and since World War 2 the Australian gov't has made private health affordable to every Australian by subsidies, etc.

Also, premiums are "community" rated . . . . . the whole community's health is taken into consideration and the premiums determined on that basis. . . not if you are healthy or ill, young or old.

Your premium will be the same if you are 75 or 25, if you haven't been to a hospital or doctor in 5 years, or you visit 5 times a week!

The only thing a private health fund requires is to be informed of any pre-existing illness, e.g.if you are pregnant, or have a heart problem or back problem. No pay-outs will be made for the first 12 months if your streatment is for any pre-existing ailment.

This is to stop anyone with a illness joining a fund, getting treated and fixed up then dropping out leaving the long-term insurers to "subsidise" their treatment.

[SASydneysider]

There is private health care available specifically for people on a 457. My son did a comparison and found them to be the cheapest for the most benefits. Thanks to Swerwer for the reference on his blog!!

SAS

[Rodz]

Thanx SAS!!

[MANDYL]

Now I know as well. I posted somewhere else earlier on about receiving a letter from the Dept of Immigration suggesting we take out health cover. After reading the posts albeit a couple of months old it makes sense. I've registered with Iselect and will be hearing from them soon.

[Thinus]

Now I know as well. I posted somewhere else earlier on about receiving a letter from the Dept of Immigration suggesting we take out health cover. After reading the posts albeit a couple of months old it makes sense. I've registered with Iselect and will be hearing from them soon.

Just a practical comment on this one guys - private medicine in Oz hospitals is very different to what we have (? had - I left eight years ago) - the most important difference is when you have an emergency - There is no fancy private emergency departments - everybody goes to the public system if you have an urgent problem like a heart attack or car accident. If you are extremely lucky you may get a transfer to a private doctor once you are stabilized but often this would only happen the next day at the earliest.

Having said that I advise all my patients to get Private insurance if they can afford it - for elective things like knee arthroscopies or endoscopies having private insurance make a huge difference in terms of who you see and how long you wait. Waiting time for a private gastroscopy for instance can be only a few weeks while if you are a public patient you can wait up to two years.

I usually try and explain to people that the system here is somewhere between the UK NHS and the private system in the RSA

T

[MANDYL]

Thanks Tinus but how will I know what I will need in 10 or 20 years time? On the internet it gives you a form to complete and you have to choose which cover you want but it also includes hip replacements, eye surgery etc. My husband and I are sort of still young and won't be needing it unless God forbid there is an accident.

[KirstyP]

What do expectant mums on a 457 do? Gynae in Public or Private sector? Is to birth covered by the Private Fund?

[Guest Lara]

I think they only cover you if you have the baby after being on the Health insurance for 12 months.

But there might be some out there that give you cover sooner?

What do expectant mums on a 457 do? Gynae in Public or Private sector? Is to birth covered by the Private Fund?

[KirstyP]

Thanks, will hunt and let you know...