The Medicare levy in Australia is about 2%. For me this translates to about $1500pa. Contrast this to my private health insurance which costs about $2000pa. Th

The Medicare levy in Australia is about 2%. For me this translates to about $1500pa. Contrast this to my private health insurance which costs about $2000pa. The Medicare levy scales with income and the rate is lower than 2% for people on low incomes, and higher for people who don't have private health insurance. Private health insurance does not scale to income, only to services required. Medicare provides certainty: if you need treatment, some of it is going to be covered by Medicare. There is a schedule of how much Medicare will pay for certain procedures and medications[1]. With private health insurance you can sometimes choose to have private rooms or select a specific doctor/surgeon. We have a national health insurance scheme because Australia has a culture of looking out for your mates. [1] Procedures are covered by the Medical Benefits Schedule http://www.health.gov.au/internet/mbsonline/publishing.nsf/Content/a-z http://www.health.gov.au/internet/mbsonline/publishing.nsf/C... while medications are covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: http://pbs.gov.au/pbs/home http://pbs.gov.au/pbs/home