Health — Medicare and the Private Insurance Layer
Australia's universal healthcare system, Medicare, has run since 1984 and provides essentially free GP and public hospital care to citizens and permanent residents. It's funded by general taxation plus the Medicare Levy (2% of taxable income). The biggest contrasts with Korea's national health insurance are that public hospital admissions and surgery have almost zero out-of-pocket cost, and that Medicare cards are issued per individual, with family members listed under the same card number.
Who can enrol
- Citizens and permanent residents: can apply as soon as PR is granted; once linked through myGov, the Medicare card number usually arrives within a few days.
- Reciprocal Health Care Agreement countries (UK, New Zealand, Ireland, and 8 others): can use Medicare for emergency and necessary care during short stays. Note that Korea is not a reciprocal country.
- Temporary visa holders: generally not Medicare-eligible. Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) or, for student visas, OSHC is effectively mandatory.
What is free or low-cost
- GP visits: if the doctor "bulk-bills", you pay nothing; otherwise you pay a gap fee. Bulk-billing rates in metro areas are reportedly around 70%.
- Public hospitals: ED, admissions, and surgery as a Medicare patient are essentially free (shared rooms; no choice of doctor).
- Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS): caps prescription costs at roughly AUD 30 for general patients and around AUD 7 for Health Care Card holders.
Two private health insurance (PHI) incentives
The federal government uses two carrots and sticks to push people into PHI to reduce public hospital load.
- Private Health Insurance Rebate: roughly 8–32% of your premium reimbursed by government, depending on income tier.
- Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS): if your income is above the threshold (around AUD 93,000 for singles in 2026) and you don't hold PHI hospital cover, an extra 1–1.5% applies on top of the Medicare Levy.
- Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading: if you don't take out hospital cover by 1 July after your 31st birthday, every later year adds 2% to your premium up to a 70% maximum, dropping off after 10 continuous years of cover. Migrants get a 12-month LHC exemption window after PR is granted — don't miss it if you plan to take out PHI.
Things to watch
- Dental, optical, and physiotherapy are largely outside Medicare for adults — they're either private insurance or self-funded.
- A Mental Health Care Plan (drawn up by your GP) gives Medicare partial rebates for up to 10 psychology sessions a year.
- Emergencies dial Triple Zero (000); non-emergency advice is available 24/7 on healthdirect (1800 022 222).
Official guidance: Services Australia: Medicare, privatehealth.gov.au