Australia?

[SwedishSissi]

Hi everyone,

I have answered some posts but not written my own.

I have just got my Australian Resident Visa extended for another year.

Can anyone in Australia fill me in on what I can expect from Medicare? or if I need to go Private?

I am so far on Ibrance and Letrozole, with 3-monthly scans. Are these covered? Especially Ibrance, which is very expensive.

We plan to come over in December, if my next scan is still stable, and stay for the Australian Summer.

Best wishes to you all

Sissi

[Kerryd22]

If you have access to Medicare take advantage of it. All treatment within the public hospital clinics are free with no out of pocket expenses. A friend went private when she had early cancer treatments and she was happy with it but it wasn’t cheap. Plus private health cover doesn’t cover everything as it pays a percentage according to the scale fees. If the doctor you choose charges more than the scale fee you will pay the extra too.

The public hospital clinics can be busy although post covid mine is not very busy as a lot of people choose to use Telehealth rather than going in to the hospital.

The medication is covered by the PBS but you would have a maximum copay of $30 . Scans in the public hospital system are fully covered but at private clinics may not be. Before I joined the clinic I had to pay the entire cost of a hip MRI because not only was the hip MRI not covered the contrast used would have meant that even if the hip scan was covered by Medicare it would not be with that contrast. In a public hospital it would be covered in full.

Your issue may be with getting into a clinic as it requires a GP to apply for them to see you and then you’re interviewed and they invite you to attend. Miss a single appointment or fail to phone before your appointment time to say you can’t come in and you will be removed from the list You have to start the process again with a letter from your GP.

To get private treatment you will need a referral to an oncologist from your GP but they are usually affiliated with a private hospital nearby. There’s multiple places to get scans done outside the hospitals if you prefer.

I hope you enjoy your stay!

All the best

Kerry

[SwedishSissi in reply to Kerryd22]

Thank you very much, Kerry.

[Timtam56 in reply to Kerryd22]

Yes sissi. This is all correct.