Is this correct in Australia re pensioner paying for health care

[Noshadelamp]

I'm in the UK with an elderly relative in Australia.
She gets the state pension and no other income. She rents from the council/government.

She has cancer and a lot of her medical appointments she has to pay up front for such as scans, tests and consultants.

Sometimes she gets some back through Medicare but not all of it and sometimes she doesn't get anything back.

Sometimes she pays $600 plus upfront, as well as her transport costs.

This is mind boggling to me here in the UK where there's pensioners who can't afford heating let alone fronting hundreds of pounds for a scan and only getting some it back.

So my question is, what do people do if they literally don't have the money up front?

Is there any government scheme or support for people who literally don't have the money or credit card?

Everyone in Australia has the right to free treatment through the public hospitals. You might just have to wait longer for treatment and appointments.

If she's paying upfront for those things then that means she has gone down the private rout for quicker access.
Then she just needs to switch to their 'free route' which is Medicare. But she will have to wait in a waiting list as it's their version of the NHS. But their version is better with shorter waiting times.
So basic it's your choice over there-private route or the free Medicare route.
Perhaps you have misunderstood their system.

The GP writing bulkbill on the referral doesn't mean they have to bulkbill, it's up to the specialist to make that decision. Some scans are charged for as they are not eligible for medicare rebates or have a gap fee.

When I had my cancer treatment I had my chemo at a private hospital, and my radiation at a public hospital. I didn’t pay a cent.

I haven’t used Australia’s healthcare system, but the comments on this board are a great advertisement for it. Reform wants this for the UK you say?

I bet fewer people die on relation to their population on Aus compared to the UK as the Aus system is properly funded BC it is part private.

I would be tempted to vote Reform.

Healthcare is one of the few areas where I think Reform has got it exactly right. NHS free at point of use, subsidise health insurance (via tax reduction) to take pressure off the NHS, thus increasing total healthcare funding through individual choice, preventing demographics from sinking us.

Australian mortality outcomes significantly better than the UK, yes.

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/what-are-medicare-safety-nets-thresholds?context=22001

Sounds like something is awry. Has she chosen private instead of public? Has she checked that her correct bank account is linked to Medicare for refunds. My children are uni students and have concession cards, we get 100% of their care covered in the public healthcare system.

I had a large spinal operation- complex with multiple teams (physio, neuro and ortho) involved. Didn't pay a cent.

Edited to add: due to the severity, I was admitted via A&E having waited less than 30 minutes to be seen. Operated on within 5 days.

I’m a pom living in Aus with a long term chronic health condition. Personally I think the Aus healthcare system is amazing. There is an element of user pays - if you choose to go private - but the general healthcare system is free and first class. TBH as a person in work I don’t resent making a contribution payment for my visits to the dr. The fanatical assumption that the NHS is the best system in the world as it visibly crumbles looks mad from this distance.

I’m in Australia. You can get chemo paid for by the government but you have to pay for scans. The PET scans are extremely expensive. I know of a woman who had young children who chose to discontinue chemo and die because her family could not afford the scans.

Often the care in the public hospital system isn’t the best anyway.

My mother had cancer and we went through the private system as she would have received substandard care at our local public hospital. Every now and then her oncologist admitted her to private hospital because scans performed while you’re an in-patient at hospital (staying overnight) means the federal government pays for the scans. The oncologist knew how expensive cancer was.

Last time I spoke about the public health system on mumsnet there were people who got really upset at my comments and praised the public system. I would never have a baby in a public hospital in my city because the risks are too high. My friend’s baby died as a result of appalling care in a government hospital.