What is Medicare?

Medicare is Australia’s universal health care scheme.

It is funded by the Commonwealth Government.

Through Medicare, Australians and some overseas visitors can access a wide range of health and hospital services at no cost or reduced cost.

Services provided by Medicare at no cost or reduced cost include:

• hospital treatment at a public hospital by a doctor appointed by the hospital
• out-of-hospital services provided by general practitioners (GPs), specialists and allied health professionals
• some tests and scans such as x-rays
• some prescription medicines
• eye tests by optometrists.

Services subsidised by the Australian Government under Medicare are listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

Some doctors bulk bill for the services they provide. This means they charge the fee specified in the MBS.

Other doctors do not bulk bill and charge more than the MBS fee. They can do this because they operate as private businesses and can decide their fees based on the service they provide and their business model.

For example:

Medicare does not cover:

• private patient hospital costs
• ambulance services
• most dental services
• most allied health services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, eye therapy, chiropractic, podiatry and psychology services.