Can anyone tell me what happens if something happens and you need medical attention immediately. How does it work out in oz, do you go into an A&E department and have to fill in forms regarding who your medical insurance company are or is this sort of thing covered on Medicare?

Sasha :)

Emergency treatment is covered by medicare. I do know you have to get private ambulance cover though, but not sure how much as we havent done it yet..its one of those things you keep meaning to do but forget.

i have not had to use either services yet thank god !!

How does the Medicare side of it work though? Do you have to fill in forms when you arrive so they can claim things back?

Come to think of it ambulance cover is chargeable over here for certain conditions so is it the same out there that only certain emergencies are covered or is it if you need an ambulance then you have to pay for it's use no matter what situation?

Sorry for all the questions just sitting here thinking about things and want to get them straight in my head....if that's possible? :loopy:

Sasha:)

Hi Sasha
I can only answer a small part of that - one of the longer term people would be better - see we really DO need you Wizzy!

Once you've signed up with Medicare, you can get some or all of the cost of the doctor back. The doc is allowed to charge more than Medicare will refund so there might be a difference to pay. Some surgeries 'bulk bill', meaning they pass the bill to the govt and claim it back direct so you never have to put your hand in your pocket. Others you have to pay the surgery then claim it back separately by taking your receipt into the Medicare office.

Fortunately I haven't had to get further into the system than that so far, so will leave it there for someone else to elaborate further!

Elaine

Our doctors bulk bills and is hte same ctre wizzy goes to.

Domian Medical Ctre at Marion. You do not have to pay anything when you go. Just hand over your medicare card and they do the rest. Much the same as docs in UK. You also have to han dover your card for prescriptions and once you have spent approx $700 in one year you dont pay anymore after that

So with the Medicare card - you get this when you register with the tax people etc. is it? Is it wise to get a load of passport photos done ready for all the form filling in once we get there?

Sasha :)

You go to a medicare office (theres loads all over the place) take all your id with you, also tax file number, fill out the forms and then they give you a temp card till your proper one comes in the post

What ID do they accept them PP is it just something like your passport or do you need to take in proof of address?

Sasha :)

you must realise i have the memory span of a goldfish, but i think it was passport, proof of address ie phone bill and i think drivers licence, but not 100% positive

How soon do you have to apply then for medicare? As you cant get a phone bill straight away? Or is it a case that it is wise to get health insurance as in travelling insurance to start off with?

Sasha :)

Regarding the Ambulance cover here, if you need an ambulance for any reason you have to pay a call out fee and then per km on top so you do need cover. I think we paid about $90 for the year but if you get medical insurance here a lot of them include ambulance cover as well.

Rach :medium smiley2:

What ID do they accept them PP is it just something like your passport or do you need to take in proof of address?

Sasha,

Try this link

http://www.immi.gov.au/settle/health/cover.htm#MEDICARE

Lisa
:dancing dog:

Ah this is the site I know and love.

Thanks for the link Lisa. :thumbs up:

That's not too bad $90 for a years cover. What did you pay for the rest of your medical cover Rach? or didn't you bother with private cover?

Sasha :)

I don't have medical insurance and I've been on a visitor medicare card since I arrived which says Immediately Necessary Treatment only on it and I've been able to have procedures done such as a colonoscopy (yuck) and I'm currently undergoing fertility tests - don't think they are immediately necessary treatments :P So I wouldn't worry about it too much. Will be a different story when I suddenly get in bill in the post!!

Now I've been granted residency I've got to change my medicare card over though.

Thanks PG always nice to know that it doesn't really matter once we get out there we should be covered for most things....not too sure about the colonoscopy bit too much detail there! ;)

Sasha :)

If you don't have ambulance cover and one is called for any reason then generally there is a charge - about $600 I think.

Last year my son had a car crash and a bystander called the ambos out, BUT, as they treated him while he was trapped in his car, and then on the side of the road, and he did not get in the ambulance, we did not get charged.

And after 13 years here I am still trying to fathom the Medicare system out.

My family had private health insurance for a while but it was so expensive, and we benefitted so little, that we gave it up. Now and then you will see articles in the media basically saying it's not worth it if you can pay up front for an op for example - and still go private.

One of the reasons it was expensive for us is our age. I imagine younger people taking out private medical cover would pay much smaller premiums.

It IS useful for dental cover, glasses and things like naturopaths, chiropractors, dieticians etc. which some policies cover.

I have some friends whose young daughter recently broke her arm badly and she wanted one of those lightweight fibreglass type casts on it and was told she could only have that if they had private medical cover! Needless to say they stuck to good old plaster of paris.

WW - Whats the waiting lists like if you do need an op and not through private medical cover?

Sasha :)

Sash, it depends on what you are having. My procedure came through within 3 months but Hubby Jon has to wait 18 months to have his nose done because of his snoring - there must be a lot of snorers out there!!!

:bouncing smiles:

Do me a favour and put Roy's name down for the snoring op!!!!

So is it pretty much on line with the Uk then for waiting lists would you say or quicker?

Sasha :)

Try holding a pillow very firmly over his face and then sit on it! The pillow not his face :blink: Well you know what I mean :doh:


I think I better shut up now :bouncing smiles:





Dunno about ops - thankfully none of my family has needed anything like that ......... YET!

Ahhhhh so I need a pillow.....I'll remember that one next time! :o

Sasha :)

I believe the pillow is what's known as an "optional" extra

I'm not sure it will cure his snoring, but it might brighten up your evening! :lol:

Slap!!......ouch!

I've got a snorer for a hubby as well!! God there must be loads out there.

Basically Snappy you get the private medical insurance broken down into 2 different things
1. Hospital cover, i.e. operations, stay in hosp, having a baby etc

2. Extras cover for glasses, dentist, alternative therapies etc and depending on what cover you pay denotes what you are covered for and how much of the fee you can claim back


I chose to take out extras covers mainly for dental work and I wear glasses and both Daz & I need the odd manipulation on our backs and we paid $42.60 month, but there were spending limits on it and we could only claim back a maximum of 80% of the cost of the fee (sometimes less depending on what was being done).

We were considering upping it to the dogs b******* one but that would have cost us around$73 month but far more cover and you could claim back 100% of the fee.
This was with medibank.

We didn't go into the hospitals cover but can vaguely remember being quoted for over $100 month for joint hosp & extras cover for the family (2 adults 2 kids).

Needless to say all a bit pointless now as we haven't claimed on it (qualifying periods and all that) but can see the sense in not getting the insurance but putting aside an amount each month for emergencies and then at least if at the end of the year you haven't spent it, you've got a little nest egg.?!

All the best
Rach :bouncing smiles:

Thanks for that Rach at least I know how much we would be looking at.

Can I ask the others out in Adelaide if they bothered with hospital cover? My way of thinking is that we don't have private cover over here now so why bother when we get out to oz as hospital costs are covered by the Medicare system...or so I'm led to believe, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Sasha :)

Depends what you have done.
Daz had to have a stomach ultrasound (not urgent) and although he got seen the next day, medicare paid for $80 and we had to pay $70 top up. I think this would be less if you held a concession card (you can get one when you first arrive I think but then once you start work, you usually lose this if your income goes over a certain level. I think its for low income families).

Not sure if we could have claimed this back if we had of had private hosp insurance or not???

Complicated eh!


Rach :thumbs up:

Thanks again Rach - it seems very complicated - I think I will have to look a lot deeper into this subject.

Sasha :)