Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Health and Ageing has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) (a) The holders of a 410 visa moved to Australia in 1996 from the United Kingdom.

On moving to Australia, the holders objected to being liable to pay the Medicare Levy. They argued that they did not fall within the scope of Medicare or the RHCA, as they had ceased to be residents of the United Kingdom on their retirement to Australia. They asserted that as the RHCA did not apply to them, they should not be treated as eligible persons under the legislation, and should be exempted from paying the Medicare Levy.

More recently, the situation of 410 visa holders has been raised with the Department of Health and Ageing by several stakeholders, including the British Expat Retirees in Australia (BERIA), and in response the Department has been reviewing the 1998 policy and its impact on visa holders. This review is ongoing.

(b) 410 visa holders are people who have agreed to the conditions of a 410 visa, including that they are (a) self-funding and (b) must provide for their own health care costs through health insurance, which must be adequate, in that it provides cover that is at least equivalent to Medicare benefits and covers pharmaceuticals.

(c) The Minister does not have access to substantive evidence about all the various circumstances of subgroups of 410 visa holders. However, it is believed that all 410 visa holders are made aware of the visa condition that they must provide for their own health care costs through holding adequate health insurance while in Australia.

(d) Yes. The circumstances applying to 410 visa holders regarding visa conditions also apply in essence to holders of the Investor Retirement (Subclass 405) visa.

(2) (a) to (b) The Department is not aware that there is any prescribed period of time that is determinative of whether a person is 'resident' in a country. It should be noted that the Minister for Immigration is responsible for policy and legal requirements attaching to different visas.

(3) The conditions attaching to the two visas regarding health care are different.

(4) Temporary visas, other than 405 and 410 retirement visas, enable their holders to access relevant Medicare benefits under an applicable RHCA.

(5) The Department understands that 410 visa holders were aware of the conditions of their 410 visa, and accepted those conditions, before they obtained it. If an individual seeking to travel to Australia wished to be eligible for RHCA benefits, he or she had the option at the time of considering another visa which would have allowed access to such benefits.

(6) Holders of 410 visas who apply for the 804 parent visa attain eligibility under an applicable RHCA due to their status as applicants for a permanent residency visa.

(7) Australia's RHCAs are based on a cost waiver principle, where each country fully absorbs the costs of providing health care to visitors, and no financial adjustment takes place. The cost waiver type of agreement is the alternative to the agreement model used in European Union countries, which involves monitoring and administration for the purpose of reimbursing medical costs.

(8) The Government cannot provide advice on the eligibility requirements of the United Kingdom's National Health Service.

(9) Yes.

(10) There is no 'deeming' process undertaken by the Department.

(11) There is no 'deeming' process undertaken by the Department.