Medicare

Medicare is Australia's universal health insurance scheme. Introduced in 1984, its three objectives are:

• to make health care affordable for all Australians
• to give all Australians access to health care services with priority according to clinical need, and
• to provide a high quality of care.

The new extended Medicare Safety Net will cover 80 per cent of your out-of pocket costs for all Medicare services provided outside hospital for the remainder of the calendar year once the safety net threshold is reached. Out of pocket costs are defined as the difference between the fees charged by the doctor and the Medicare benefits paid.

Medicare will automatically calculate any safety net benefits you are entitled to when you make a claim. However, families and couples will need to register as a family with Medicare to ensure all their costs are counted towards the one family safety net threshold.

You can phone Medicare on 132 011.