[tapxe]

Hi all,

I think I am in an awkward phase that
a. I am holding a 457-compliant visitor health cover because my 457 visa has been valid since early 2015 and will be valid until 2019.
b. I lodged my PR application in June this year, and afterwards I registered with Medicare so now I am having an interim medicare card.

I did not bother to cancel the visitor health cover until recently I found the sentence in this link privatehealth.gov.au (sorry i'm not allowed to post link yet) and I quote:

General treatment cover without hospital cover will not provide an exemption; and Overseas Visitors Cover, Overseas Student Health Cover or cover held with an international insurer will not provide an exemption. If you hold appropriate hospital cover but temporarily suspend payments for that cover (for example, to travel overseas), then you are not exempt during the suspended period.

So it means since this June I've paid hundreds of dollars for the visitor cover which does not exempt me from paying more $$$ for MLS!

I talked to insurance companies like Medibank and NIB, their perspective is yes, the visitor cover cannot exempt me from paying MLS, and they suggest switching to normal hospital cover. Searching in the forum for similar discussion did not give me clear answer either, some folks canceled the visitor cover immediately, some folks kept it until PR grant. I did not find any source about the implication for current 457 or whatever visa that requires visitor cover. I can only guess it is a grey area?!

I have to repeat the question that has been asked....: for applicants like me who is having medicare waiting for PR, is it ok to cancel 457-compliant visitor health cover, and for my case switch to normal domestic health cover that would avoid MLS ? Will that make current 457 visa invalid because my 458 has condition 8501 - MAINTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE?

Thanks,
Tapxe

 

[tapxe]

To anyone who is interested:

I checked with the immigration agent, they said the medicare complies with 457 requirement. However, as it is dependent on lodged PR application, if for any reason, the PR application is withdrawn/refused, the I will lose the access/eligibility to Medicare. By then, if I do not hold any 457 health insurance, then I will not be compliant with the conditions attached to 457 visa.

So, I guess the decision is up to the applicant now.