@roger,
Quote:Thanks for the clarification
I forgot another detail; you can use a public hospital, or a private health clinic that "bulk bills" the government for their costs, or go to a private doctor of your choice, and pay a fee, a fair percentage of which you can claim back yourself.
It sounds a bit complex, but in practice, it works.
Any emergency cases that require immediate hospital treatment are free.
I recently required emergency eye treatment, and could have gone private, at rather expensive costs, but elected to go public, and pay nothing, except for medications, which were surprisingly cheap (and effective).
We don't have the heavily controlled pharmaceutical sector here, and generic forms of all medications are generally easy to source. Pharmacies let you know your options, when filling your prescriptions.