Medicare subsidises the costs of a wide range of essential medical services, including doctor visits, blood and pathology tests, scans, x-rays, and some surgeries or procedures. It also covers annual eye tests by an optometrist, as well as child immunisations.
Medicare works in tandem with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (or PBS), which subsidises prescription drugs.
Services Australia Community Information Officer, Justin Bott, says the first step to access these schemes is by obtaining a Medicare card and number.
“Once you enroll with Medicare, Services Australia will send you your Medicare card, and you should take that Medicare card with you when you go visit your doctor. The Medicare card is going to have your individual Medicare number on it, and you can use that Medicare card to get access to those services to those reduced prescriptions from your chemist or reduced bills from the doctor, or possibly not paying anything through bulk billing.”
The GP may decide to send patients to get further tests or other medical procedures or refer them to specialist doctors. In serious circumstances, patients may be sent to a hospital.
GPs also provide patients with prescriptions to buy medicine at pharmacies and recommend vaccinations.
Some services are fully subsidised by Medicare, and others only partly covered. This means patients may need to pay the difference between the full fee or cost of a product or service, and what Medicare funds.
An important feature of the Medicare and GP system is called bulk billing.
If you visit a medical practice that ‘bulk bills’, you will not have to pay anything at the end of the consultation.
