Medicare was established as Australia’s universal health insurance scheme in 1984 to guarantee access to a wide range of health and hospital services for all Australian citizens and eligible residents at a low or no cost (Services
Australia, 2023). It has become an iconic issue for most Australians due to the key role it plays in ensuring equitable healthcare access, covering various medical and hospital expenses, including but not limited to doctor’s consultations, hospital procedures, and tests listed on the Medicare Benefits Schedule [MBS] (Kehoe et al., 2024).
A Medicare holder can further claim rebates for services paid upfront – 100 percent of scheduled fees for general practice (GP) services, 85 percent of non-GP services provided out of the hospital systems, and 75 percent of services provided in Australian private hospitals (Kehoe et al., 2024).
While people seeking protection usually experience significant vulnerabilities and complex health needs as a direct result of the legacies of the heavy-laden migration journeys, some of them have restricted or zero access to Medicare (Kunin et al., 2022).
