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Changes to NDSS (Australia) from next month

Mep

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,461
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Those of you who are aussies here.... did you get your mail from NDSS recently? There's changes to what they will subsidise or cover effective from 1 December 2018. I noticed they're not subsidising Dario test strips anymore amongst other brands. I no longer use it anyhow and went back to my Freestyle Lite meter... thankfully those strips are still subsidised. I also noticed they're only covering BD needles too and not the other brand which I think from memory is novo. Luckily I prefer DB anyhow. They've taken off their list any needle >8mm too.
 
You Are lucky so much is covered.
in Canada we pay for our Diabetic supplies out of our own pockets.
It has been predicted that health care will soon bankrupt our country. As it absorbs over 65 %of our budget
 
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Pura Vida said:
You Are lucky so much us covered.
in Canada we pay for our Diabetic supplies out of our own pockets.
It has been predicted that health care will soon bankrupt our country. As it absorbs over 65 %of our budget
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65% ??? Are you sure about that?
 
Tipetoo said:
I posted about this nearly two weeks ago here.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/changes-to-some-ndss-products-from-01-12-2018.158411/

No change with my strips etc.
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oh sorry... I didn't see your thread even though I did a search first. Did you see the free CGM being provided for T1's pregnant ladies and those on concession cards? I think that rules out most of us. lol. As a worker I find myself paying for most things anyhow. One of the medical supplies for one of my other conditions is set to cost me about $6000 per year ($500 per month) as it's not covered by any scheme or health insurance. I'm trying to get help through NDIS but they've already knocked me back once.... trying again. We'll see. I guess we can get some help in some areas at least.
 
Pura Vida said:
You Are lucky so much is covered.
in Canada we pay for our Diabetic supplies out of our own pockets.
It has been predicted that health care will soon bankrupt our country. As it absorbs over 65 %of our budget
Click to expand...

We aren't completely covered here.... we just pay a lower price for some things. I get my needles for free and that's all I get for free... the rest I pay for.

As for me my health is costing me a small fortune.... I see all my specialists but one privately which is always out of pocket expense. I pay a fair bit for medications, not all my tests the specialists want to do are subsidised (rare to get them completely covered too), and one of my medical supplies will cost me $6000 per year. I'm on reduced income as I can not work full time hours. So I pay for private health and still pay for out of pocket expenses as private health doesn't cover everything, nor do govt schemes here. They cover some things and not other things (I really mean subsidise though as rarely things are fully covered).... thing is we don't get to choose what illnesses we get. I can spend $4000 easily per quarter on my health.... which isn't really affordable for me. I'm foregoing christmas this year.
 
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Mep said:
One of the medical supplies for one of my other conditions is set to cost me about $6000 per year ($500 per month)
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Makes me shiver at the thought. Of course once the present government here manage to destroy the NHS and put an end to welfare we here will be in much the same situation I fear.
 
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Mep said:
Did you see the free CGM being provided for T1's pregnant ladies and those on concession cards? I think that rules out most of us.
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I tuned out when I heard T1 mentioned, but it is a step in the right direction from the Fed's.
 
Reactions: Mep
JohnEGreen said:
Makes me shiver at the thought. Of course once the present government here manage to destroy the NHS and put an end to welfare we here will be in much the same situation I fear.
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Yes, that's possible. Here we do have govt assistance but as I've found out it doesn't cover everything. So where there are gaps that aren't covered you're out of pocket. You're out of pocket usually anyhow as most of the time they only cover approx half of the cost of things. The downside is if the govt doesn't cover it, your health insurance won't either as they only cover what the govt does. The only time they fully cover is when you are in a public hospital. Of course concession card holders are the only ones that get much cheaper costs, although most workers here don't qualify for concession cards so we're paying more.
 
Remember in the UK we do pay higher taxes then most countries..
 
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ringi said:
Remember in the UK we do pay higher taxes then most countries..
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Here in Australia we pay a fair bit of tax also. I'm not sure if there would be a huge difference between the two from what I can see on the tax chart. Our country charges up to 47% income tax the same as UK. We have both federal and state taxes.
 
It is very hard to compare tax rates between countries as all taxes including hidden taxes and import duties etc have to be included. For example the taxes a landlord has to pay effects the cost of people renting, so it is not just the taxes someone pays themselves.
 
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Yes, true... all different. Although we do pay a lot of tax.... plus we have medical costs we need to pay too. To my understanding the NHS is free and provided for from the taxpayer dollars. We have medicare here and various govt schemes which operate similar to NHS... the only thing is that we are paying for health costs and just have things subsidised if they're actually included on the subsidy lists (not always included). Eg. some of our tests are not subsidised so you pay for the full cost of the test. If I need an iron infusion, I pay for the iron and the infusion and haematologist myself. If I want some medical supplies, they're not all covered. Eg. I mentioned I need to pay $6000 annually for just one of my medical supplies. As you can see I have multiple conditions so not so cheap being sick.
 
Mep said:
If I want some medical supplies, they're not all covered. Eg. I mentioned I need to pay $6000 annually for just one of my medical supplies. As you can see I have multiple conditions so not so cheap being sick.
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@Mep I get some of my non prescription items from Independence Australia in Victoria, they are reasonably priced for what I get. They also use express post so you get ordered stuff within a couple of days.

One of the sisters at the wound dressing clinic at the base hospital put me onto them a couple of years ago.

https://www.independenceaustralia.com/
https://store.independenceaustralia.com/
 

Tax freedom day in Canada .i believe this includes all the taxes

If the average Canadian family had to pay its total tax bill of $50,464 up front, it would have worked until June 9 to pay the total tax bill imposed on it by all three levels of government (federal, provincial, and local). This means that in 2018, the average Canadian family will celebrate Tax Freedom Day on June 10.Jun 10, 2018
 
You quoted my post about Independence Australia which is a medical supply company, what has this got to do with Canadian taxes?
 

Yeh I've purchased from Independence Australia before and Surgical Warehouse also. They're really the only 2 I can buy from here. When it comes to the medical product I need neither of them are cheap at all. I have tried a few different cheaper brands of the supply I need and they're rubbish. They sent me the more expensive ones as samples and they worked a treat so I've ordered those. I go to them and pick up the goods directly so save on postage. I tried ordering direct from the manufacturer one time and they said no I had to go through Surgical Warehouse. I have to place an order and wait 10 days or so for it to arrive and then pick up.
 
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