Do You Know Benefits of Australian Health care system?
And are you eligible as a Temporary or Permanent resident (PR) in Australia?
The Australian health care system.
Health care in Australia is provided by both private and government institutions.
There are three major healthcare schemes in Australia, those three healthcare schemes are Medicare, The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and the 30% Private Health Insurance.
Medicare
Medicare is a health care scheme publicly funded in Australia and funds primary health care for Australian citizens and permanent residents (except for those on Norfolk Island).
Medicare is operated by the government authority Medicare Australia, it is the primary funder of health care in Australia.
Residents are entitled to subsidized treatment from medical practitioners, eligible midwives, nurse practitioners and allied health professionals who have been issued a Medicare provider number, and can also obtain free treatment in public hospitals.
Medicare covers 70% of the costs of healthcare.
Who is eligible for Medicare?
- The people who are eligible to enroll for Medicare have to live in Australia and have been granted permanent resident status.
- Have applied for certain permanent residence and are, holding a valid visa with permission to work in Australia.
- Holding a valid visa and have a parent, spouse or child who is an Australian citizen or holder of a permanent resident status.
A person might not be eligible for Medicare if he/she has a current parent visa application being considered, or has a current application for a protection visa (with no permission to work) or/and have previously applied for a parent visa.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is an Australian program that subsidizes prescription drugs to the residents of Australia.
Together with. Medicare the PBS is a key component of health care in Australia.
The PBS ensures that a wide range of necessary medicines are affordable and reliably accessible to the residents of Australia.
As the intensive research has increased, so did the cost for it.
The 30% Private Health Insurance
The 30% Private Health Insurance is the remaining percentage where Medicare covers 70% of the costs for health care.
Therefore Australian residents are strongly advised to take out Private Health Cover to compliment the Medicare services provided.
Private health insurance funds private health and is provided by a number of private health insurance organizations.
Before you migrate to Australia, you will need to be familiar with the Australian Health care system.
Please see the below links to find out more about the above information:
Medicare
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/dhs/medicare
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
http://www.pbs.gov.au/pbs/home
The Department of Health
