Do New Permanent Residents Need Private Health Insurance In Australia?

You’ve become a permanent resident of Australia. Congratulations! Welcome to the best country in the whole world. Billy Explores loves it here, and hopes you will love it too. Becoming a permanent resident opens up so many opportunities, including with your health insurance. We’re sure you’ve got lots of questions, so Billy Explores is here to help you with all of your health questions including Medicare and private health insurance. Let’s get you on your way with your health in Australia! 

Do New Permanent Residents Need Private Health Insurance In Australia?

No. Permanent residents don’t have to have private health insurance, just like Australian citizens don’t have to. Australia has a great public health care system called Medicare that can help you pay for basic or necessary medical services. However, there are lots of benefits in having private health insurance, especially as a new resident of Australia.

What Is The Benefit Of Permanent Residents Having Private Health Insurance In Australia?

As we mentioned, Australia has a great public health care system in Medicare. But, if you can afford it, private health insurance gives some better benefits than using the public health care system:

• Private health insurance gives you coverage for treatments like chiropractic care that aren’t part of the public health care system.
• When compared to the public system, waiting times for specialist procedures and treatments are shorter in the private health care system.
• If you’re under 31 and decide to get health insurance later in life, you won’t have to pay age loading fees.
• Not having to pay the Medicare surcharge levy and having lower tax costs.

What’s The Deal With Medicare And Are New Residents Covered Under It?

The national public health care system in Australia is called Medicare. Under Medicare, you can get free care at public hospitals and pay less for a wide range of non-critical health services, such as seeing a general practitioner or an optometrist for a regular eye exam.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is also a part of Medicare. It controls the prices of some prescription drugs that would be too expensive for most people to buy on their own. In many cases, the PBS can lower the cost of a drug from hundreds of dollars to less than fifty dollars for a person who has been prescribed it.

What’s The Best Kind Private Health Insurance in Australia For A New Permanent Resident?

As an international visitor, you probably had some kind of Overseas Health Insurance Cover (OVHC) to protect you from having to pay a lot of money for any medical services you needed while you worked or travelled in Australia. But when you become a permanent resident, your health care benefits and rights change, and it’s likely that OVHC won’t be as good as private health insurance or Medicare.

Once you have permanent residency, it’s a great time to compare private health insurance providers and switch from health insurance for foreign visitors to a private health insurance policy for residents.

Can New Permanent Residents Access Both Types of Private Health Cover?

Yes. As a new resident, you can definitely access both types of private health insurance including hospital cover and extras cover. Both give you additional cover for treatments that you could need as a new resident in Australia. Hospital cover is the only type of health insurance policy that gives you the Medicare tax breaks under Australian tax law. Most Aussies take out both hospital cover and extras cover, and you can compare both through Billy Explores and get the best deal for your needs from our panel of health insurance providers.

Hospital Cover

Hospital cover helps with the costs of treatment as a private patient in a hospital. If you have private hospital cover, you can choose to be treated as a private patient in a public hospital, private hospital or day hospital facility. Find out more about hospital cover here.

Extras Cover

Extras Cover is part of your health insurance policy and covers some of the cost of various general medical treatments that can a) happen outside of a hospital or b) aren’t covered by Medicare. These services are typically things you use quite a bit, like trips to the dentist, optometrists or physio. Extras Cover is also sometimes called General Treatment or Ancillary Cover. Find out more about Extras Cover here.

Compare Private Health Insurance In Australia For New Permanent Residents

So it’s time to get onto your new health insurance policy as a resident in Australia. How exciting! The best way forward now is to compare private health insurance providers through Billy Explores. You can save time and effort and explore the best value health insurance for your needs. Even as a brand new permanent resident! How awesome is that? Now let’s go out and enjoy what Australia has to offer without worrying about your health!