shermann7, better than you have, however some problems, e.g. dental was taken out of medicare a couple? of years ago to save money. That hurt, and hurts many big-time. It was not a worthy move. You're right on the 2% levy, but there is also a surcharge if you don't have some private health insurance .. https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/medicare-levy/medicare-levy-surcharge/ . Probably the major debate here on health is the amount of subsidization the private industry gets from government.