# pregnancy on 461 visa - no Medicare access, options?



## offenmeier (Aug 2, 2014)

Hi, my name is Eugene, and I am very new to this forum. I am a 30-year old software developer from New Zealand, and I plan to move to Melbourne in January with my wife 

I have browsed through this forum and couldn't find a very similar question asked recently, so I am starting a new thread.

As a New Zealander I will get a special category visa 444, and will be eligible for Medicare, as far as I understand. But my wife is not a New Zealand citizen, she is from Ukraine, and was in New Zealand on a long-term work visa. As my partner she's eligible for 461 5-year Australian work visa which, supposedly, doesn't give her access to publicly funded health care. I'm more than happy to arrange a private health insurance for her, BUT here comes the twist.

We just found out that she might be pregnant, which means that she would be due in March - April. All private insurance companies have these waiting times requirements for pregnancy, and doesn't matter if they count that from the arrival date or from the policy start date, since the waiting period is 12 months and we're already within it.

We'll be fully covered while we are in New Zealand, it's the January - April period, including the actual delivering of the baby, that we're worried about  As we understand, it could cost us up to $10k to cover the last trimester, delivery and postnatal care, if we are not covered.

What are our options? For example, are there any private insurance funds that would have shorter waiting time requirements for pregnancy? Or an additional premium to lower it?


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## offenmeier (Aug 2, 2014)

any ideas? or is it not interesting enough?


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

It usually means nobody has any ideas. 

In Australia all health funds are usually the same in regards to waiting times. Your only option is to contact them individually. Other than that contact hospitals etc to get costs.


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## Maggie-May24 (Jul 24, 2011)

It wasn't a coverage level I needed, but my recollection from checking out various plans is that a 12-month wait for pregnancy related coverage is standard. I think you'd have to contact various providers to see if there is any add-on coverage available. Another option is to speak to an organisation such as iSelect (who compare various providers) to see who they may be aware of with this type of coverage.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Yep, unfortunately I think you're out of luck and will have to foot the whole bill. 12 month waiting periods for that kind of thing is definitely standard across companies.


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## offenmeier (Aug 2, 2014)

sounds like we're better off delivering the child in New Zealand  we're in no rush, but this calamity throws us off a little bit. doesn't sound like Australia really needs IT professionals that much  not with family anyway


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## offenmeier (Aug 2, 2014)

We decided not to give up and applied for Australian PR instead  we just got it granted today! Now we have access to Medicare, so here's one answer I should have been given, but no one suggested!


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## Melody (Nov 3, 2014)

Cause probably no one knew about this kind of case? Congratulations for the PR


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## Dinkum (Jan 5, 2014)

*Congratulations!*

Thanks for sharing the wonderful news of your PR grant with us. Let's hope things go better for you both from now on...cheers 



offenmeier said:


> We decided not to give up and applied for Australian PR instead  we just got it granted today! Now we have access to Medicare, so here's one answer I should have been given, but no one suggested!


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## manimehra22 (Oct 12, 2014)

offenmeier said:


> We decided not to give up and applied for Australian PR instead  we just got it granted today! Now we have access to Medicare, so here's one answer I should have been given, but no one suggested!


congrats!!!!
can u plz help us to provide the information of abt ur PR..
how u got it??
which subclass u applied for...??

thanks


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## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

offenmeier said:


> We decided not to give up and applied for Australian PR instead  we just got it granted today! Now we have access to Medicare, so here's one answer I should have been given, but no one suggested!


Looks like a case case where a registered migration agent might have been consulted to develop a visa strategy. Doing so would have saved you running around in circles, seeking answers to the wrong question.

Happy NY


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## pavlslad (Feb 11, 2015)

offenmeier said:


> We decided not to give up and applied for Australian PR instead  we just got it granted today! Now we have access to Medicare, so here's one answer I should have been given, but no one suggested!


Hi, I'm in a similar situation. I'm Czech married to NZ citizen. Would you give more info how did you obtain PR? I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks Pavla


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## xiaoyu (Jan 7, 2016)

Hi offenmeier, I'm in an almost identical situation with my wife and wondered if you could tell me

1) What PR visa you applied for your partner?
2) How long the processing took for the visa?
3) Did you apply for this in Australia or from New Zealand?

Thanks!


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

Wow that maybe away to get Ukraine partners into Australia, much faster than a Partner Visa and probably cheaper too.


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## Maggie-May24 (Jul 24, 2011)

I assume he got a skilled visa such as a 189 or 190. There is no PR path from a 461, so in that way being married to a NZ citizen doesn't give any advantages.


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