Australia Medicare - reciprocal healthcare

[anonymous-user]

Going to be visiting family for a few months and would prefer not to pay insurance, if it's only a small gamble.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the medicare system for travellers - what level of cover it provides and what percentage of fees you pay for any treatment?

If I'm only risking a bill of say £500, I'm happy to take the gamble, but if unfortunate enough to require a long stay, I wouldn't take the risk of being hit with a major bill.

"British citizens resident in the UK and travelling on a British passport are entitled to limited subsidised health services from Medicare for medically necessary treatment while visiting Australia."

Can't seem to find anything much clearer online how it works

[Mr Pointy]

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

[captain_cynic]

No. Tourists are not covered under the reciprocal health care agreement and should arrange comprehensive coverage.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/australia...

Even as an erstwhile Australian citizen I wouldn't dream of travelling there without travel insurance.

[Whats on Second]

Mr Pointy said:

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

good advice but would an uninsured australian be expected to pay for their care and repatriation if they took seriously ill while holidaying in the UK ?

[bigandclever]

JS748 said:

Going to be visiting family for a few months and would prefer not to pay insurance, if it's only a small gamble.

I have annual, multi-trip, global incl. USA with extreme sports cover for less than 100quid. Why wouldn't you?

[deckster]

bigandclever said:

JS748 said:

Going to be visiting family for a few months and would prefer not to pay insurance, if it's only a small gamble.

I have annual, multi-trip, global incl. USA with extreme sports cover for less than 100quid. Why wouldn't you?

Annual multitrip is much cheaper than single extended trip insurance. Out of interest I've just done a quote for a single 6-month worldwide trip and was about £600 from the Post Office. I'm sure you can it cheaper but it's not an insignificant cost. Although clearly much less than the cost of being repatriated after a big accident.

I can see where the OP is coming from. In my mid-20s I took a six month jaunt to Australia and medical insurance didn't even cross my mind. As I'm old and cautious now I don't even go France for a week without insurance but I can absolutely understand the mindset of just go and deal with it when it (probably doesn't) happen.

[bigandclever]

deckster said:

Annual multitrip is much cheaper than single extended trip insurance.

Ah, good point!

[Alorotom]

Whats on Second said:

Mr Pointy said:

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

good advice but would an uninsured australian be expected to pay for their care and repatriation if they took seriously ill while holidaying in the UK ?

Short answer, yes they would (or they are supposed to be), in reality though hospitals and docs in the UK do not act as gatekeeper to the requirements and while should chase for payment post-treatment this rarely happens (although it will start happening more in the coming years).

[Mr Pointy]

Alorotom said:

Whats on Second said:

Mr Pointy said:

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

good advice but would an uninsured australian be expected to pay for their care and repatriation if they took seriously ill while holidaying in the UK ?

Short answer, yes they would (or they are supposed to be), in reality though hospitals and docs in the UK do not act as gatekeeper to the requirements and while should chase for payment post-treatment this rarely happens (although it will start happening more in the coming years).

The NHS might treat a visiting Australian who has suffered an accident but they certainly aren't aren't going to pay for a medical evacuation half way round the world back to Australia.

[Bill]

bigandclever said:

deckster said:

Annual multitrip is much cheaper than single extended trip insurance.

Ah, good point!

However probably has a single trip time limit.

If you're young, fit and healthy the chances of a bill are low, but have an accident and that bill could be massive.

[JQ]

Mr Pointy said:

Alorotom said:

Whats on Second said:

Mr Pointy said:

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

good advice but would an uninsured australian be expected to pay for their care and repatriation if they took seriously ill while holidaying in the UK ?

Short answer, yes they would (or they are supposed to be), in reality though hospitals and docs in the UK do not act as gatekeeper to the requirements and while should chase for payment post-treatment this rarely happens (although it will start happening more in the coming years).

The NHS might treat a visiting Australian who has suffered an accident but they certainly aren't aren't going to pay for a medical evacuation half way round the world back to Australia.

A relative of mine was repatriated from the Bahamas, total cost was around £30,000. A private jet (ambulance) flew from Germany containing a large medical team and flew her back to an RAF base in the UK. Quite an exciting experience when you're not having to pay for it !!!

Also had a mate helicoptered off a ski slope where the cost was circa £12,000, although I think that included rebuilding his ankle.

For the cost of travel insurance these days you'd be mad not to have it. I have a very comprehensive annual multi-trip policy for the whole family (4) which costs around £150 per annum.

[Alorotom]

Mr Pointy said:

The NHS might treat a visiting Australian who has suffered an accident but they certainly aren't aren't going to pay for a medical evacuation half way round the world back to Australia.

I have seen some pretty mega bills approved in the NHS for this very thing. It does happen - there have to be certain circumstances in order for it to happen, but it does happen (albeit somewhat infrequently), without payment upfront.

Same as huge volumes of medical tourism.

[peterperkins]

The people saying they have cheap multi trip policies.
Who are they with please. Thanks

[JQ]

Mines with Direct Line

But you can just go on the insurance comparison websites for multiple quotes.

[Alorotom]

peterperkins said:

The people saying they have cheap multi trip policies.
Who are they with please. Thanks

Mine is with the Post Office … established via one of the insurance comparison sites (I forget which)

[Kenty]

bigandclever said:

I have annual, multi-trip, global incl. USA with extreme sports cover for less than 100quid. Why wouldn't you?

Who is this with please?

[98elise]

Mr Pointy said:

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

This is my take on it as well.

It's fine to be in Europe without insurance, but long haul you need to consider how you would get repatriated for a major problem. It would be very very expensive to fund yourselves.

[98elise]

Alorotom said:

Whats on Second said:

Mr Pointy said:

It's very unwise not to have full travel insurace. If you end up needing medical evacuation back to the UK how are your family going to afford it? It will cost a fortune to fly you back from Australia.

good advice but would an uninsured australian be expected to pay for their care and repatriation if they took seriously ill while holidaying in the UK ?

Short answer, yes they would (or they are supposed to be), in reality though hospitals and docs in the UK do not act as gatekeeper to the requirements and while should chase for payment post-treatment this rarely happens (although it will start happening more in the coming years).

The NHS are not going to pay for medical repatriation flights.

A quick Google for prices...

USA to UK air ambulance – £50,000
Caribbean to UK air ambulance – £60,000
South America to UK air ambulance – £70,000
Africa to UK air ambulance – £40,000
Middle East to UK air ambulance – £40,000
Far East to UK air ambulance – £85,000
Southern Europe to UK air ambulance – £18,000
Northern Europe to UK air ambulance – £10,000

Australia looks like I would be 100k+ !

Edited by 98elise on Monday 2nd May 11:26