JasonM Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Ok were to start....... i am pretty sure that from reading on here that you may as well get health care insurance as you will pay the medicare levy..... well after having a chat with a friend today discussing medicare and health care insurance they have been told by their accountant that even if you have private health care you still need to pay the health care levy. so i am now confused. can anyone please clear this up. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedolly Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Everyone pays the Medicare Levy which is 2% of your taxable income. What you are probably hearing about is the Medicare Levy surcharge. If you are a high earner, am not sure of the figure around $180000 (could be less) and you dont have Private Health cover you are charged an extra levy on top of the 2% so at tax time you end up shelling out around another $3000ish, which is about the same as you would pay in premiums so you are was well having the insurance and you have the benefit of Private Health care if you need it. Also, if you dont take a policy out within a year of you being here, you get charged an extra loading for every year you are over 31. So I didnt take it out within a year and I have 30% more on my premiums because of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey2645 Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 So the additional Medicare payment is only if you're a very high earner (I presume it's individual income not household?) the premium loading is on your private medical premiums not Medicare? Or do you mean Medicare premiums? (so if your income always stays below the threshold your Medicare % won't go up?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou8670 Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Australia are trying to encourage everyone to have private health care. Lots of people take the lowest cover to meet the government requirements but then don't use it because of the gaps. It's good to have cover for ancillary care such as dentistry, physio etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooz2012 Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 So the additional Medicare payment is only if you're a very high earner (I presume it's individual income not household?) the premium loading is on your private medical premiums not Medicare? Or do you mean Medicare premiums? (so if your income always stays below the threshold your Medicare % won't go up?) Different limits for Singles and Families - https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/Medicare-levy-surcharge/Income-for-Medicare-levy-surcharge,-thresholds-and-rates/ Premium loading is on private insurance. The 30% or so PHI rebate won't cover those loadings, I believe. http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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