Every Australian permanent resident and Australian citizen can apply for a Medicare card on arrival in Australia. One card can be applied for by a family, and the names of all members of the family are listed on this card.
Applying for a Medicare card can be done at any branch of Medicare.
Publicly-funded patients
With Medicare, you can go to a public hospital as a publicly-funded patient and be treated by the hospital's designated doctor at no cost to the patient. Even if you have private insurance, you can still choose to receive publicly-funded medical treatment in public hospitals at your own initiative.
As a publicly-funded medical patient, you do not get to choose your doctor or when you are admitted to the hospital for treatment.
(Note: There are quite a number of PR mothers who wish to give birth to a child in Australia at public expense, and we would like to remind you that there is a big difference between public healthcare in Australia and at home, from the prenatal and postnatal process and payment system is completely different, please be careful, public healthcare is not to choose a doctor not to choose a caesarean section not to ask for a side cut and not to choose a ward, everything is subject to hospital arrangements, the type of delivery is based on the hospital's own decision. All arrangements are made by the hospital, and the type of delivery is determined by the doctor and midwife on duty on the day of delivery according to the physiological condition of the mother. To enjoy the right to choose only as a self-paying medical patients, before the twentieth week of pregnancy or even a few weeks when you have to make an appointment with a good doctor and the hospital to start the whole self-pay maternity check as well as to develop a birth plan, after the halfway point before deciding to pay for the situation, the doctor does not accept, if you accept the halfway point of the maternal side of the road is to show that the doctor's medical skills in general, fewer people to book.)
Self-paying patients
As a self-paying medical patient, you have the right to choose a designated doctor, and the right to decide whether to go to the private hospital where your designated doctor practises or to a public hospital for self-paying treatment. If you choose to pay for your own treatment (either in a public or private hospital), Medicare
will cover 75% of the cost of your treatment under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)
, and the remaining 25% of the cost of the treatment will be paid by you. You will also have to pay some or all of the following out-of-pocket costs:
- hospital accommodation, hospitalization
- theatre fees, operating theatre fees
- intensive care, intensive care fees
- drugs, dressings and other consumables, anesthesia, medications and other consumables. other consumables, anesthetic drugs and related materials
- prostheses (surgically implanted), surgically implanted materials
- diagnostic tests, laboratory tests
- pharmaceuticals medicine fees
- any additional doctor's fees.
Out-of-pocket medical treatment in a private hospital can be very expensive, and private medical insurance will reimburse you for some or all of the costs mentioned above.
Visits to GPs and specialists
If you go out of hospital, Medicare will reimburse you for the cost of treatment for MBS at your GP (family doctor, or community doctor, or general practitioner) and 85% of the cost of MBS at your specialist. If your specialist is claiming directly from Medicare, then you don't have to pay for the treatment (BULK BILLING).
Medicare pays for:
- Doctor's visits, including specialists
- Labs and tests needed to treat your condition, such as x-rays and pathology tests
- Optometry performed by an optometrist
- Most surgical procedures and treatments performed by a doctor
- Surgical treatments performed by some approved dentists.
- Specific items listed in the Cleft Lip and Palate Scheme
- Specific items listed in the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) scheme
(Note: the above does not necessarily mean that all items are free of charge, as in many cases you will have to pay for the difference. That's why some places charge and some don't, some charge less and some charge more for the same treatment. Australia's healthcare system is based on the family/general practitioner first visit system, which means that if you have any outpatient needs, you should go to your family doctor/general practitioner first. Every community health center has a GP, and patients are free to book appointments with any of the GPs, and present their Medicare cards when they visit the GPs. Some GPs are bulk
billing, some GPs charge a consultation fee and then give you an invoice to reimburse the cost back to MBS from the Medicare branch, and the difference you pay out of pocket is called gap
. So it is possible for a GP to charge a fee, and not all GPs bulk bill (in fact more and more GPs are not bulk billing anymore, so if you want to find out where there are bulk
billing GPs, check the yellow pages!) The yellow pages! Any questions about fees and charges can be asked very straightforwardly before you visit a GP, so don't wait until you've finished seeing the doctor. GPs may do some tests and labs for patients in addition to consultations, some of which are done at their own medical centers, and some of which are done by GPs who have written referral
letters recommending that the patient go to other labs or testing centers. You can ask if these tests are bulk
billing or if the patient has to pay for the tests out of pocket.GPs can't treat all diseases, to exaggerate GPs can't treat all major diseases, according to the patient's condition GPs will write a letter of recommendation for the patient to go to a specialist doctor, who is also divided into bulk
billing and need to pay for the patient's gap. Most of the specialists are not bulk billing.
There is a cap on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses a family can pay in a natural year. MEDICARE will partially reimburse your family for expenses that are above the cap, and you can apply for the cap after you get MEDICARE MEDICARE SAFETY NET
Buying medicines
Buying the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is an important part of the program. Benefits Scheme (PBS) drugs, you only have to pay part of the cost of the prescription drug. The rest is subsidized by PBS, and you must present your Medicare card at the time of purchase to be eligible for the PBS drug subsidy.
The out-of-pocket costs vary by drug, but there are out-of-pocket limits. The out-of-pocket limit is lowest for those with a concession card.
(Note: If a patient needs medication all the time, even with the PBS subsidy, the cost of the medication is still too high, and you can apply for the PBS SAFETY NET in order to minimize the cost of the medication in a natural year)
What's Not Covered By Medicare
Medicare does not reimburse ambulance costs. In Queensland and Tasmania, the government provides free ambulance services. New Zealand and the Capital Territory only provide free ambulance service for low-income people on benefits.
In other provinces, ambulance costs can be reimbursed by enrolling in an ambulance agency's insurance program or by purchasing private health insurance.
Please note that there are many grades of ambulance insurance coverage and costs, with some insurers reimbursing all ambulance costs, while others only reimburse for ground ambulance as well as limited ambulance services, such as ambulance services that are restricted to only the province in which you live.
Medicare does not reimburse
- Self-pay patient care (e.g., self-pay operating room fees, hospitalization, etc.)
- Medical expenses incurred while the cardholder is out of the country
- Non-clinically necessary medical treatment and cosmetic surgery for aesthetic reasons
Medicare does not reimburse
- Life insurance, pensions, and other benefits. >- Physical examinations required by life insurance, pension companies, or other member organizations (such as insurance companies, employers, or government agencies)
- Most dental examinations and treatments
- Physical therapy, rehab, voice, vision, chiropractic, podiatry, and psychiatry
- Acupuncture
- Eyeglasses and lenses
- Eyeglasses and lenses
- Lenses.
- Hearing aids and other devices
- Home care
Please accept, thank you.