Ambulance Cover & Health Insurance on 489 Visa

[evojoan]

Hi All

 

We came over in September on a 489 visa and have been looking for Ambulance & insurance cover. As we are on a provisional visa we can't get ambulance cover with SA Ambulance.

 

We have a medicare card under the reciprocal agreement between Australia and the UK and this covers:

 

free treatment as a public in-patient or out-patient in a public hospital

subsidised medicine under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)

Medicare benefits for out-of-hospital treatment provided by a doctor.

 

Medicare will not cover:

 

medicine not subsidised under the PBS

treatment arranged before your visit to Australia

accommodation and medical treatment in a private hospital

accommodation and medical treatment as a private patient in a public hospital

ambulance services

dental examinations and treatment (except specified items introduced for allied health services as part of the Chronic Disease Management (CDM) program

physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, eye therapy, chiropractic services, podiatry or psychology (except specified items introduced for allied health services as part of the CDM program

acupuncture (unless part of a doctor's consultation)

glasses and contact lenses

hearing aids and other appliances

the cost of prostheses

medical costs for which someone else is responsible (for example a compensation insurer, an employer, a government or government authority)

medical services which are not clinically necessary

surgery solely for cosmetic reasons

examinations for life insurance, superannuation or membership of a friendly society

eye therapy

home nursing.

You can take out private health insurance to cover many of these services.

 

Could anyone on this visa or another temporary visa recommend a company for ambulance cover and to cover the extras.

 

thanks in advance

Edited November 12, 2013 by evojoan

[Guest Jamie]

Hi and welcome

 

We are on the same temporary visa (475), we checked through a lot of companies and found Medibank one of the cheapest and really helpful. They are also part of Medicare. Their cover includes Ambulance cover plus you can tailor it to cover different extras including dental, optical etc.

They are in most shopping centres or in the city on Grenfell Street or look at http://www.medibank.com.au/

 

Good luck

 

Jamie

[Thorpe1]

Hi

You can get stand alone Ambulance Cover direct from SA Ambulance. Cost is $141.00 per year for a family of 4. Well worth when you consider 1 Emergency Ambulance call can cost you $700+. Just go to their web site for more info. Saves you getting Private Health Cover.

[cliffy]

"As we are on a provisional visa we can't get ambulance cover with SA Ambulance".

Not sure this is true, we had temporary cover for my father when he came on a tourist visa several years ago, we had to pay a minimum cover, but he was certainly covered for the time he was here.

Have they changed the rules?

[Blossom]

Medibank will insure temp visa holders for just ambulance cover. The reciprocal cover actually covers just about everything. Even an eye test every over year. I was on one for five years and never had a thing that it didn't cover.

[evojoan]

Hi Jamie & Blossom, thanks I will try Medibank. I rang SA Ambulance when we arrived and was told by the advisor that as we were on a provisional visa we couldn't be covered as it was just for Australian residents. Might try ringing them again.

 

Thanks

[evojoan]

Hi All

Just rang SA Ambulance again and spoke to an adviser who said that as we have a registered car, have a rental agreement and pay electricity & gas etc then this shows that we are intending to stay long term/ permanent so we are entitled to SA ambulance cover.

 

Thanks everyone