Medicare

Question 1

How is medicare Funded?

Answer 1

Medicare levy
2% on taxable income

Medicare levy surcharge
An extra 1-1.5% on top of the Medicare Levy IF you do not have private health insurance and earn above a certain amount

General taxation

Question 2

What does Medicare cover?

Answer 2

• Gp visits
  
  • Blood tests
  • Xray
  • Public patients in public hospital

Question 3

What does Medicare not cover?

Answer 3

• Ambulance service
  
  • Medications
  • Physio
  • Private patient in a private hospital

Question 4

What are the Advantages of Medicare?

Answer 4

• Choice of doctor for out of hospital services
  
  • Available to all Australian citizens

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of Medicare?

Answer 5

• No choice of doctor for in hospital treatments
  
  • Waiting lists for many treatments

Question 6

What is private health insurance?

Answer 6

Is an additional insurance that can be purchased on top of Medicare, where members pay a premium (fee) for health-related costs not covered by Medicare.

Question 7

PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INCENTIVES (Lifetime cover)

Answer 7

Lifetime Cover
Designed to encourage people to take out hospital insurance earlier in life and to maintain their cover.

Question 8

PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INCENTIVES (Government rebate)

Answer 8

Australians with private health insurance receive a rebate from the Australian government to help cover the costs of their premiums.

Question 9

What are the advantages of Private Health Insurance?

Answer 9

• Enables access to private hospital care
  
  • Choice of doctor while in public or private hospital
  • Shorter waiting time for medical procedures such as elective surgery

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of Private Health Insurance?

Answer 10

• Costly in terms of the premiums that have to be paid
  
  • Sometimes have a ‘gap’, which means the insurance doesn’t cover the whole fee and the individual must pay the difference
  • Qualifying periods apply for some conditions (e.g. pregnancy)

Question 11

THE PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME (PBS)

Answer 11

• The pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) is a federal government-funded scheme that subsides the cost of a wide range of prescription medications, providing Australians with access to necessary and cost-effective medicines at an affordable price.
  
  • PBS Safety Net - If a person needs a lot of medication in any one year, once the threshold is reached, then the co-payments required are further reduced.