Patients without a Medicare card

Alfred Health is a public health care facility. All patients who want to use our services must have a Medicare card to be eligible for free medical care.

If you are a visitor to Australia and you do not hold a valid Medicare card (called Medicare Ineligible Patients), or do not fall under one of the classifications below:

• Patients from countries with reciprocal rights (dependant on visa type/status)
• Asylum seekers and refugees

then you are not eligible for free treatment under Medicare, either as a planned (elective) or emergency patient and will be responsible for the payment of all expenses associated with treatment, including medical, diagnostic, hospital stay, prosthetic, pharmaceutical and ambulance fees whilst at Alfred Health.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have adequate and appropriate health insurance cover or adequate money to cover the cost of your healthcare, including but not limited to:

• accommodation
• doctors’ fees
• prostheses
• pharmacy
• diagnostics including radiology and pathology
• outpatient attendances
• other related services

Information that you will need to provide

If you need to access services at Alfred Health you will be asked to provide the following on presentation to the hospital:

• guarantee of payment from insurer or upfront payment
• your passport and visa status details (documentation and date of entry validation)
• Overseas residential address and contact details
• Contact information during your stay in Australia
• mobile phone number and email address
• Relevant health insurance policy details

You will be asked to pay an upfront payment to cover your cost of care, whether you do or do not have private health insurance.  A Finance Patient Liaison Officer can clarify this with you before any decisions made. 

Depending on your visa classification type, you must have adequate and appropriate health insurance cover for the duration of your stay in Australia. If visa holders do not meet their health insurance conditions, then Alfred Health will initiate Debt Collection proceedings to recover all outstanding amounts related to your care and may result in advising relevant Commonwealth authorities of the breach of Visa terms and conditions.

Alfred Health Fee Schedule

Upfront payments are a deposit towards Bed Fees, Pathology, Radiology and Pharmacy costs.

These fees do not include additional costs for procedural billing, inpatient consultations, and anaesthetics. You are responsible for all fees and charges including discharge medication, pharmaceuticals and high costs drugs.

Please note these fees are a general guide only and are subject to change sometimes without notice. Please request an up to date quote prior to your admission and/or discharge.

Refunds for upfront payments

Medicare Ineligible Patients will only be reimbursed if they were not seen by hospital staff and chose to leave before any care was provided.  Refunds will only occur once all services have been accounted for post your discharge and may take a few weeks to verify.  If there are any outstanding amounts that are not covered by your health fund Alfred Health will be in touch regarding payment.

Medicare Ineligible Patients who were seen but chose to leave before care was complete will not be reimbursed for any upfront payments.

Determining your inpatient cost of care

As a Medicare Ineligible patient you will be provided with Informed financial consent as part of your election process

• Public hospitals are required to provide a clear explanation of the financial responsibilities of a Medicare Ineligible patient election. This includes informing you of any out of pocket expenses (gaps), by all relevant service providers, prior to admission to hospital or as soon as circumstances reasonably permit. 
• For all Australian or International health insurance policies, upfront payment in full or a guarantee of payment from the insurer is required.
• The hospital will perform a membership eligibility check on your behalf to ensure you have appropriate cover for your admission and where possible, secure a guarantee of payment.  You will be responsible for pay for any shortfall such as excess/co-payment on your policy.
• If you do not have any health or travel insurance, then you will be required to pay the full amount of your estimated account prior to your admission.

Holders of travel insurance may be able to lodge a claim for these costs through their travel insurance company after payment has been made.  invoices can be generated once you have been discharged and all services have been finalised. 

Fees for additional or unplanned services are payable on, or shortly after the day of your discharge.

Upfront payment required for all services

While every effort is made to provide an accurate estimate of expenses, additional costs are sometimes incurred. This may be due to:

• Variations in proposed treatment, procedure, prosthesis, or length of stay
• Sundry charges such as medicines and take home items like walking aids

Any balance outstanding is payable before or on discharge from the hospital. We accept Visa, Mastercard and AMEX, EFTPOS or direct bank deposit.

You will need to sign a copy of the estimate of financial expenses to acknowledge that you have received and understand the estimate, and that you agree to pay for any unforeseen charges.