Pregnant

[Marnu]

Hi All, 

 

• My friend is has done a 457 visa application and her medicals in November, she think it would be granted in April but just found out that she is 2 week pregnant, is there any medical cover she would be able to get in Aus as all have a 12 month waiting period but she is currently on a medical aid in South Africa.
• Please advice what she should do.

[ChrisH]

I hate to break it to you, but she's on a work visa and fell pregnant.

 

Never mind the health cover on that side, does the company sponsoring her visa know of this and will they be willing to honour her work contract?  

[RedPanda]

8 minutes ago, ChrisH said:

I hate to break it to you, but she's on a work visa and fell pregnant.

 

Never mind the health cover on that side, does the company sponsoring her visa know of this and will they be willing to honour her work contract?  

That's the real question, yes. In order to be in Australia on a 457 you have to be working for the company that sponsors you. She will have to find out from the company if there are any ways this can still happen.

[RYLC]

To answer your question about medical aid: she won't get cover for pregnancy now.  The 12 month exclusion period is cast in stone.  It will cost thousands of dollars to pay privately as she won't qualify for public health care.  Best to have the baby in RSA.

 

But yes the more important question is how she'll be able to honor her work commitment to her sponsor.  Sounds like she needs to negotiate with them to delay her work start until after the baby is born in RSA.  That's if they still want to sponsor her that far into the future.

 

Also she needs to do a lot of thinking about how she'll manage over here with a young baby.  Is she coming on her own?  It would be incredible hard (impossible from my point of view as a mum myself) to come over with a young baby and no backup.  Many many questions to consider.  

[Leroy]

@RYLC I am busy reading up on pregnancy during the VISA process. We are in the process of submitting our 189 VISA but we are grappling with the idea of having a second child in SA or going over to AUS asap and rather try there. 

 

My question is regarding the 12 month exclusion period for pregnancy. It is the first time i read of it. Could you perhaps shed some more light?

 

Thanks in advance

leroy

[RYLC]

2 hours ago, Leroy said:

My question is regarding the 12 month exclusion period for pregnancy. It is the first time i read of it. Could you perhaps shed some more light?

 

On Private health care (so a medical aid policy you pay for from places like Medibank, Bupa, HCF etc) you cannot claim for pregnancy and birth costs until you have been a member (and paid premiums) for 12 months.

 

In the public health system (Medicare) there is no exclusion period so if you arrive on PR while pregnant even, you can have your baby at a public hospital for free.

 

Saffas are used to private health care and like to be able to choose their doctor so using the public system is a bit of a foreign concept (especially when imagining going to a public hospital in RSA as a comparison). The facts are that public hospitals here are very good and the majority of people have their babies there. 

 

 

[monsta]

@Leroy  I second what @RYLC  said. The public hospitals here are good.... and yes, it is different... you might have to wait in Queues. But you often see the exact same doctor from the private hospital. Many doctors work part time in the public system and part time in private practice. They just can't find enough patients who can afford private care.

 

But, that's not your real issue... the real issue is trying to move with a newborn. That is really hard. But if you hurry up your move, you may not be able to sell things for the prices you want, you may not get things sorted out as well as you would like. You may land here with boxes full of stuff and think, "why did I pack this!?!?" and then the "OMG! where is my torch! don't tell me I left that behind!!"

 

But, I think its easier to move while your wife is pregnant. But, you should have a long chat with your gynecologist about how safe it would be... especially flying to Australia.

 

Oh and you can be a "private patient in a public hospital". Which basically means you get your own room if one is available. That may not be excluded because of the 12 month waiting period. A private room is great if you need to sleep... but sometimes having other ladies in the room to talk to is really comforting. I know this sounds horrible.. but seeing other people struggle makes your struggles seem not so bad