New migrants under regional visas can save a fair amount of dollars on medical charges by enjoying the benefits from medicare coverage.

Medicare coverage

Regional migrants under a subclass 489 visa were not eligible for Medicare coverage. However, things are going to be different when the 489 visa is replaced by the 491 visa.

The Federal Government of Australia declared that migrants who are owing the two recently introduced visas will be available for Medical Coverage.

This instrument extends Medicare eligibility to holders of two provisional Skilled Work Visas (Subclass 491 & 494)

These much-awaited subclass visas has been launched so that subclasses 489 &  187 got replaced.

The Subclass visa 489 plays a major role in the regional migration of Australia, but in this visa, each migrant had to take a compelling strain in spending their medical insurance. The new visa scheme will attract more migrants to Australia’s regional areas. This will reduce congestion in Australia’s major cities. Recent reports say that there will be 25,000 regions on offer each year and provide the gateway for PR if the regional migrants meet certain guidelines.

Migrants owing to subclass visa 187 were allowed for the medical insurance benefits already. 489 visa migrants were not eligible for Medicare benefits. As per the new rule, both state-sponsored and employer-sponsored applicants will have the same rights.

According to the recent migration updates, major cities such as  Perth, Hobart, Gold Coast, and Canberra will be listed under regional areas for regional visas. To know more about Australia’s regional migration read our article Australia Expanding Regional Migration