Medicare Coverage for Overseas Visitors and Reciprocal Health Care Agreements in Australia

It goes without saying that dealing with sudden illness or injury while abroad can be quite distressing. Tourists, international students, and temporary workers arriving need to take a good look at how the local health system works, as this is a major part of their travel planning. Locals enjoy full access to government subsidies, but when it comes to Medicare for overseas visitors in Australia, these policies are so restrictive that ultimately, they are dependent on your visa and country of origin.

If you are a foreign visitor wondering whether the national health scheme will cover you, it is advisable first to understand the basics by going through our complete bulk billing and Medicare guide. Most visitors, unlike residents, will usually have to pay out of pocket for healthcare unless they are covered under a particular treaty.

Knowing these rules will also help you arrange the right insurance coverage before flying, thereby protecting you financially in case you fall ill unexpectedly.

Reciprocal Health Care Agreements

The Australian government is keen to help foreign travellers and world citizens by setting up RHCA (Reciprocal Health Care Agreements) with 11 countries. These allow visitors from partner countries to access essential medical services at government expense while in Australia.

Want to check if you are one of the Australian Medicare eligible persons under one of these agreements? Here are the main criteria:

• The countries with which Australia currently has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements are the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Slovenia, Malta, and Italy.
• Medical Care: The government will only pay the bills for those medical treatments that are so urgent that you cannot wait to come back home. This means that elective treatments or routine treatments will not be covered under this scheme.
• This type of agreement works all over Australia, meaning that if your district has a clinic that provides you with healthcare through the reciprocal health scheme, then the rest will be the same, even if you are in Queensland or other parts of the country.
• Even Substantial Healthcare: Even if the state covers care up to a certain extent, it is still not free care. There is always the possibility of coming across the gap fee. This is one reason why it is very important to learn about bulk billing when choosing a doctor.

For official travel advice and detailed treaty breakdowns, the Australian government's Smartraveller portal is the definitive resource for international tourists.

Non-Eligible Visitors

In case your country does not have an RHCA with Australia or if, for your particular visa class, you are not allowed to avail the benefits of the agreement (like the majority of international student visas), you will be totally dependent on yourself for any medical needs during your stay in Australia.

• Exemption for Most Temporary Visas: usually, if you want to come here for a short period of time, you must have health cover purchased from the Department of Home Affairs before they hand you your visa
• Private Billing: Correspondingly, visiting a clinic that does not have Medicare or RBC privileges will render you a private patient. After comparing Medicare vs. private billing, it is found that international visitors will have to make the full payment to the clinic at the time of the service.
• Insurance Claims: Unfortunately, if you can't utilise the public health system, reading up on how to claim Medicare rebates online will not be of any use to you. You will have to seek a refund from your private OVHC or travel insurance provider, and the first step will obviously be to provide proof of payment.

13CURE Operations for International Visitors

When a medical emergency occurs outside the usual business hours, international visitors need to know who to contact. 13CURE is a deputised medical service that is well-stocked and staffed to treat unexpected illnesses when local doctors' hours are over.

• We run a telehealth service that operates only outside business hours for urgent cases; non-emergency cases can contact us only between 11 PM and 7 AM.
• By 13CURE, international visitors are treated as private patients for billing purposes, regardless of their RHCA status. Very special domestic categories (infants under 1 year, people without homes, residents of disaster-affected areas, and patients from deputised partner clinics) are only eligible for bulk billing. You may want to check out our fees and billing guide, which we publish for full transparency.
• We can issue Medical Certificates during the late-night operating window, even to those who do not urgently need to speak to the doctor.
• Driven by the utmost respect for patient privacy, the law requires that international patients complete patient consent and identity verification forms before our doctors can commence an urgent telehealth consultation.

Tourists experiencing a sudden, serious illness late at night will find us through the after-hours urgent care service, which can help evaluate their condition and advise on the need for hospital intervention.

Geographic Service Areas

Our main mission is to deliver fast virtual care to populations in our operational areas, which are primarily in New South Wales and Queensland.

If a telehealth appointment in Victoria, South Australia, or Western Australia is what you need while you are on a trip across Australia, unfortunately, we do not offer services in these areas. Still, we are planning, and we will keep you posted. This will also avert any compliance issues in future.