11. Funding environments
Medicare is Australia’s universal health care scheme that gives Australian citizens, permanent residents and other eligible people access to healthcare at no cost or low cost. Medicare is funded by Australian taxpayers by a Medicare levy. The Medicare levy is 2% of a person’s taxable income.
Medicare covers all of the cost of public hospital services, some or all of the costs of other health services including those provided by GPs and medical specialists. The other important part of Medicare is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which makes some prescription medicines cheaper.
Some Australians also have private health insurance cover which contributes to the costs of hospital treatment and extras covers for health services not covered by Medicare such as dental and allied health services.
Select the headings to read more about the different types of health care funded at the Federal, and State and Territory levels.
- Medical services through Medicare and medicines through the PBS
- Provides funds to states and territories for public hospital services
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care
- Health services for veterans
- Residential aged care
- Public hospitals
- Community-based and preventive services such as cancer screening and immunisation
- Ambulance services
- Community and home-based health services such as community health centres
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