I’m not saying Australia’s Medicare system isn’t good. It’s trillion times better than I lived with the United States. It possibly saved my life when I was 5 with a rare blood disease. It definitely helped a little before that when I dove through a closed window (meh, curious kids) and later when I sliced my hand open with a broken casserole dish.
However, it’s far from perfect. And it is not gold standard.
But it can be and it should be.
A case study: my leg
If I didn’t have the money, my injury would have been a very different story. I have a Medicare card and private insurance but still had to pay the majority at appointments and sometimes all of it. And I had 2 appointments just to get referrals to get Medicare to cover a small percentage of other appointments.
| Appointment or item | Medicare or insurance covered | Out of pocket | Total |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $219.00 |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $103.00 |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $103.00 |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $103.00 |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $103.00 |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $103.00 |
| Podiatrist | $30.00 | $73.00 | $103.00 |
| Blood tests | $116.35 | $0.00 | $116.35 |
| Sports doctor | $42.30 | $127.70 | $170.00 |
| Sports doctor | $84.15 | $175.85 | $260.00 |
| Vascular scan | $393.05 | $0.00 | $393.05 |
| GP | $42.85 | $30.15 | $73.00 |
| GP | $42.85 | $30.15 | $73.00 |
| GP | $42.85 | $30.15 | $73.00 |
| MRI | $0.00 | $330.00 | $330.00 |
| Crutches | $0.00 | $64.98 | $64.98 |
| Totals | $974.40 | $1,299.98 | $2,390.38 |
I’m grateful I can afford all this, but I shouldn’t have to. Medicare only covered $764.40 of more than $2,000. Medicare doesn’t cover podiatry so that was covered by insurance and I chose not to include the premiums here. The next step would have been a nerve scan but the sports doctor and I agreed the cost (and discomfort) weren’t worth it, so we went straight to treatment. The podiatrist hesitated ordering the MRI because they’re expensive.
Median Australian earnings are $65,000 per annum. That’s barely enough to live off, let alone manage an injury that came from getting fitter.
My situation isn’t unusual. It’s probably also pretty tame, but it does show how much healthcare in Australia favours the more well off. Medicare is coming out as an issue for this year’s federal election and it should be. We can do better.
I promise the next post will be more light-hearted. But Medicare is an important topic and a funding system we need to protect and enhance.
Photo by Jaizer Capangpangan on Unsplash
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