General Chat

Barbra, prescriptions in Oz cost $40.00 per item, $6.50 if you have a pension or other health care card. You cannot claim the costs back on Insurance.

You can take out private Health Insurance to cover Hospital and dental charges, BUT that still does not cover you for all the costs. For example women giving birth in a private hospital are finding that they have to cough up up to $2000.00 to cover ancillary costs.

Treatment in Public Hospitals is free.

A visit to the Dr costs about $70.00 part of which is refunded by the Government. Even with private insurance you cannot claim the difference.

If you have a welfare card of any description most Dr's 'Bulk Bill so that there is no charge.

Dental work is not free and is nearly entirely private (there are a few exceptions) and extremely expensive. They offer no concessions. :-(

I myself think we should all pay something towards prescriptions even if say half we get it all free just now
Allan how do people go on in OZ saw you pay for scripts what about operations & ongoing treatments do you have insurance to pay is there age limit were it's free Barbara

I'm sure she will be, thanks Barbra. OH wasn't feeling ill or anything when the diagnoses came through, she just didn't want to take any medication for her high cholesterol level

Good news about your OH hope she continues to be okay Barbra :-)

Thanks, Ann

That's good news then Allan. I had an echocardiogram 5 years ago, more for reassurance than any need, and they picked up a mitral valve slight leak on that! It wasn't even a bad enough murmur for the doctor to be able to hear it with his stethoscope. No treatment was needed and I was told it was unlikely to become a problem and like Joy said, many of us are born with them or walk around with them without even knowing. At least with annual monitoring, they will be aware of any change if there is any.

Thank you, Elizabeth

Dear Allan

Hello

Hope your good lady wife feels better very soon.

Take gentle care
Lots of god wishes to you both
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

The Freeman hospital here changed my aspirin to clopidogrel and I was told it has far fewer side-effects than aspirin They also changed my simvastatin to atorvastatin. (Neither of these had anything to do with the abdominal aortic aneurysm I was in for! - successfully tied up!)

Gwyn, OH will be going to see her GP next week, but the Cardiologist indicated that annual ultrasounds would probably suffice.

Allan
It's good that you get results so quickly and I'm pleased that it's shown up nothing more serious.
I hope your OH can be successfully treated, if necessary.


It's great that recent Australian legislation makes those special drugs more readily available to all and needing people are not barred due to price.
That's a consideration one doesn't want to face, at times of emotional and physical stress.

Good news Allan. She'll still be able to catch you!!! :-D

OH has now had the ultrasound.

Some calcium on the aorta and two leaky valves, but nothing very serious :-)

I've offered to buy her a puncture repair kit :-D

This is a very recent example of my last post

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/patients-to-save-tens-of-thousands-on-two-key-cancer-drugs/news-story/cf8c85537508a413634c35df2b23b39a

I've also been quoting an old price for scrips, which have now risen to about $40.00

as a concession card holder I only pay $6.50 for each of my medications

Shirley, I can only repeat what Gwyn has said re your mum, so sad.

Gwyn, the mark-up does seem excessive, but it's swings and roundabouts. Some medications on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme which are available for $36.00 could normally cost thousands of dollars.

I was just fortunate that the chemist queried the script in the first place as I had no idea that aspirin was available without a script.

That's sad to hear, Shirley.
Not all pills suit everyone.
Luckily I have been able to talk to GPs if something doesn't suit and working together we have worked out a satisfactory result.
Recently I was offered an alternative medication after a specialist review. He gave me a leaflet to read and told me to contact his secretary if I wanted to go ahead. The side effects seemed disturbing, so I discussed it with a pharmacist, who advised that for the time being it would be be better to leave things as they are.
I want to live life, not exist in a drug-induced haze.

Allan
That's quite a mark up!
GPs locally don't prescribe paracetamol etc. if it is cheaper to buy over the counter.

My late mother-in-law in Hampshire was prescribed paracetamol and received them regularly as part of her repeat prescription, home delivered by the chemist. Try as we might, it was ages before we could get that part cancelled, as she didn't need or take them.
We can't buy more than 32 tablets at a time. She had enough stock piled to supply most of the town!

Our mum had various health problems over the years including COPD
She had various meds and inhalers for it

She had problems coping with the loss of dad too and was given more meds for anxiety etc

She would get side effects for one med so given another to combat the side effects then another for the side effects of that one

She was taking so many pills she had to use a pill box every day loading it with the days needs so she didn't forget to take one of them

She was then taken ill and rushed to hospital where the doctors reviewed what she was taking and said you don't need all these tablets and took her off most of them

Sadly she had developed a heart problem caused by the wrong combination of pills and did eventually have a sudden heart attack and passed away

We all said her GP was at fault for fobbing her off with more pills rather than getting to the bottom of her basic health needs

It is, Gwyn, although the pundits are now saying that aspirin may not do much good and could cause internal bleeding problems.

I think that that advice is for those who take it 'just in case'

I've been on it for nearly twenty years and it was prescribed for me by the specialist. Initially after the P.E. I was on warfarin tablets for twelve months.

Funny thing, when I took the script in to the chemists the staff were horrified. In Australia aspirin is an over the counter medicine and costs just over $4.00 for a box of 120. If the chemist had used the script the tablets would have cost me $35.00 due to the wat the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme works.

Fine for all the expensive medicines which only cost $35.00 no matter what their actual cost is, but it is a catch all provision :-D

I hope the tests show if any treatment is required, it is successful.

For yourself, is aspirin the recognised treatment after a P.E in Australia?
I was put on Rivoroxaban.

My wife never resorts to violence, well hardly ever, and I can run extremely fast for my age.

Its all part of our fitness regime

;-) :-D :-D