# Can I Cancel my 457 Medical Insurance policy after applying for PR



## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

I am on a 457 Visa which requires that I maintain a medical Insurance at all times and I am not eligible for medicare benefits (Condition 8501)


Medicare Cards Website shows that I am eligible for Medicare Card as soon as I apply for PR

So will the application for PR supersede the 457 Condition 8501 clause ?

Anybody on a 457 Cancelled his medical insurance after applying for PR ?

Cheers


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## MohAdnan (Aug 19, 2016)

newbienz said:


> I am on a 457 Visa which requires that I maintain a medical Insurance at all times and I am not eligible for medicare benefits (Condition 8501)
> 
> 
> Medicare Cards Website shows that I am eligible for Medicare Card as soon as I apply for PR
> ...


I have seen many onshore applicants, who cancel their medical insurance straightaway after getting medicare (as soon as they apply for PR). You can do that.

*Update:* I have seen some of my close friends did this, they were on 457 and they cancelled their medical insurance as soon as they applied for subclass 187 (Regional sponsorship).


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

newbienz said:


> I am on a 457 Visa which requires that I maintain a medical Insurance at all times and I am not eligible for medicare benefits (Condition 8501)
> 
> 
> Medicare Cards Website shows that I am eligible for Medicare Card as soon as I apply for PR
> ...


Yes, if you have applied for PR, and you have a valid visa with permission to work (457), then you are eligible for Medicare. 

You will need to provide Medicare with your passport, evidence of your current 457 visa, and evidence that you have applied for a PR visa (normally the receipt from DIBP for the PR visa application fee).

The 8501 clause ensures that those not covered by Medicare are able to access health care in Australia while on a temporary visa - of course once you have Medicare this need is fulfilled. So there is then no longer any statutory requirement (the 8501 condition becomes superfluous) to keep your private health insurance (once you have successfully registered for Medicare).

Whether you choose to keep or cancel your private cover is up to you, but you should certainly register for Medicare either way. 

https://www.humanservices.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/3101-1306en.pdf


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## Sannas81 (Apr 21, 2017)

newbienz said:


> I am on a 457 Visa which requires that I maintain a medical Insurance at all times and I am not eligible for medicare benefits (Condition 8501)
> 
> 
> Medicare Cards Website shows that I am eligible for Medicare Card as soon as I apply for PR
> ...


I think you can do it. The only flip side is you will have to pay more tax as soon as you get medicare card. With condition 8501, you could get tax refund as medical levy was not applicable.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## MohAdnan (Aug 19, 2016)

Sannas81 said:


> I think you can do it. The only flip side is you will have to pay more tax as soon as you get medicare card. With condition 8501, you could get tax refund as medical levy was not applicable.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


Medicare levy is much less than what you pay for private insurance.


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## Sannas81 (Apr 21, 2017)

MohAdnan said:


> Medicare levy is much less than what you pay for private insurance.


Agree for many cases. My point was not to get one if you don't have to. For many, employer does the insurance and you might end-up loosing upto 2000 a year in terms of medicare levy.

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## Huss81 (May 17, 2013)

Yes you can but I would suggest getting on to an Ambulance cover, as Medicare does not cover ambulance costs (God Forbid) if required.


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

Sannas81 said:


> I think you can do it. The only flip side is you will have to pay more tax as soon as you get medicare card. With condition 8501, you could get tax refund as medical levy was not applicable.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


I was paying for medicare levy even without having a medicare card as I am having NZ PR and am eligible for reciprocal medical benefits

The 457 insurance premium I save is a 100% benefit for me

Cheers


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

It may be worth remembering that once your income is over $88,000 you'll pay another 1% of your taxable income for the Medicare Levy on top of the normal amount, if you don't have Private Health Insurance.

Also, if you don't have PHI by the 1st July after you turn 31, and then decide to get it later, (maybe if you have a family, etc) then your PHI premiums will increase by 2% for each year beyond that age for the period you did not have PHI, so that by the time you are 40 for example, PHI would cost 20% more: Lifetime Health Cover

Another point that might be worth considering is that if your income is less than about $90,000, you should get about 26% of your premiums back by way of either a reduced premium, or a refund/credit at tax time each year: http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/mls.htm That percentage decreases if you have a higher income, but then you also get the additional savings as the higher Medicare levy doesn't apply if you have PHI.

About half of the Australian population do have PHI, but many are unhappy with the cost, and the proportion with PHI is gradually falling. Still, there are definitely benefits when non-urgent medical issues occur, wait times can be enormously reduced.


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## yutas (Jul 5, 2017)

Oh wow I did not know that. Currently I'm on a student visa and my application for 190 was lodged at 20 June. 

1. So am I also eligible for medicare ? In the website , it states that you should have work rights in your visa condition to be eligible even if your PR application is lodged. So I guess student visa should be ok with that.


2. Currently my wife lives offshore since she does not have a visa. She is also included in my visa application, is it also possible to get medicare for her now ? Probably answer is no, since she doesn't have a visa . If we can get medicare for her, I might try adding her as a dependant to my student visa, since it seems that it will take months to get the PR with the current slow grant trend.

Thank you very much for all who help people in this forum.


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

yutas said:


> Oh wow I did not know that. Currently I'm on a student visa and my application for 190 was lodged at 20 June.
> 
> 1. So am I also eligible for medicare ? In the website , it states that you should have work rights in your visa condition to be eligible even if your PR application is lodged. So I guess student visa should be ok with that.
> 
> ...


As far as I know, the same conditions apply to you, so the answer should be yes - you need to check with Medicare of course.

Your wife can not be included since she is not here, once she is here, then the same conditions should apply to her.


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

Somehow or the other this eligibility of Medicare is not so well known to the PR applicant 
Even I was not aware and I am thankful to the member who brought it to my notice and will save me a lot of money in future 

Cheers


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## Maggie-May24 (May 19, 2015)

Sannas81 said:


> I think you can do it. The only flip side is you will have to pay more tax as soon as you get medicare card. With condition 8501, you could get tax refund as medical levy was not applicable.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


You are no longer eligible for the exemption from the Medicare levy from the moment you are eligible for Medicare, even if you don't apply for it immediately. I applied for my 186 visa in October 2013 and it was granted in Dec. 2013. I applied for Medicare as soon as I received my visa. When I requested the exemption certificate, it showed that I was no longer eligible from the date that I submitted my visa application.


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

Maggie-May24 said:


> You are no longer eligible for the exemption from the Medicare levy from the moment you are eligible for Medicare, even if you don't apply for it immediately. I applied for my 186 visa in October 2013 and it was granted in Dec. 2013. I applied for Medicare as soon as I received my visa. When I requested the exemption certificate, it showed that I was no longer eligible from the date that I submitted my visa application.


Thanks
I have already filled the application form and will apply for the same as soon as I have the DIBP Visa fees receipt number in hand
Any idea how many days it will take for me to get the actual card ?
Can I cancel my existing 457 Visa medical insurance right away after applying for the card, or wait till I get the actual card in hand ?

Cheers


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## PrettyIsotonic (Nov 30, 2016)

Maggie-May24 said:


> You are no longer eligible for the exemption from the Medicare levy from the moment you are eligible for Medicare, even if you don't apply for it immediately. I applied for my 186 visa in October 2013 and it was granted in Dec. 2013. I applied for Medicare as soon as I received my visa. When I requested the exemption certificate, it showed that I was no longer eligible from the date that I submitted my visa application.


This is a great nugget of info to know - I was going to check with DSS about the Medicare Entitlement Statement and how it would work for me for the next FY when I'm doing my tax returns. 

*Just a general question:* if one apply's for Medicare after lodging a GSM visa (e.g. 189/190) and gets the Medicare card and utilises the benefits - if the visa is refused / not granted for some reason, would we have to pay any difference in medical costs between medicare eligible patients and non-medicare eligible patients? 

Apologies if its too specific a question, just thought I would throw it out there.


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## manishmahajan123 (May 17, 2018)

newbienz said:


> Thanks
> I have already filled the application form and will apply for the same as soon as I have the DIBP Visa fees receipt number in hand
> Any idea how many days it will take for me to get the actual card ?
> Can I cancel my existing 457 Visa medical insurance right away after applying for the card, or wait till I get the actual card in hand ?
> ...


As soon as u lodge the application for medicare card..they hand u a paper card with ur medicare card number...the actual card gets posted to your address in 12 days time...

As far as cancellation of existing ovhc is concerned ... I'm also interested to know that... Since I'm maintaining ovhc at the moment..i have blue medicare as well

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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

manishmahajan123 said:


> As soon as u lodge the application for medicare card..they hand u a paper card with ur medicare card number...the actual card gets posted to your address in 12 days time...
> 
> As far as cancellation of existing ovhc is concerned ... I'm also interested to know that... Since I'm maintaining ovhc at the moment..i have blue medicare as well
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


I cancelled my OVHC the moment I applied for Medicare and got the temporary card

I also took full private insurance as I was liable to pay more in MLS then my insurance premium 
But that is totally voluntary and one can decide based on individual conditions 

Cheers


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## manishmahajan123 (May 17, 2018)

newbienz said:


> I cancelled my OVHC the moment I applied for Medicare and got the temporary card
> 
> I also took full private insurance as I was liable to pay more in MLS then my insurance premium
> But that is totally voluntary and one can decide based on individual conditions
> ...


Thanks, i will do the same then...


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## gaitonde42 (Jul 16, 2020)

I wanted to check if I can do this too - I'm currently (or I was) on the 482 visa which also requires that I maintain a medical Insurance at all times but my application for my 186 visa (DE stream) was submitted today and I have recieved the Bridging Visa (A) confirmation. Does that mean I am eligible for Medicare benefits and I don't need to maintain PHI?


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

gaitonde42 said:


> I wanted to check if I can do this too - I'm currently (or I was) on the 482 visa which also requires that I maintain a medical Insurance at all times but my application for my 186 visa (DE stream) was submitted today and I have recieved the Bridging Visa (A) confirmation. Does that mean I am eligible for Medicare benefits and I don't need to maintain PHI?


Apply for your Medicare card
The moment you get the medicare card number, you can cancel your health insurance 

Cheers


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