Brit couple face being deported from Oz after MS diagnosis
Discussion
BBC said:
A British couple who face being deported from Australia after one of them was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) have said it is not fair the life they built could be taken away "any minute".
Jessica Mathers, 30, and boyfriend Rob O'Leary had their bid for permanent residency rejected in 2023 due to the potential cost to health services of treating her condition.
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Ms Mathers's diagnosis of the relapsing-remitting variant of MS in 2020 has led to a visa battle with authorities that could see the pair thrown out of the country.
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She has received treatment in Australia under a reciprocal health agreement with the UK and said her condition had been "well managed" so far.
But the couple's requests for permanent residency were rejected in 2023 due to the costs associated with her medical care.
Non-citizens entering Australia must meet certain health requirements, including not having "unduly increasing costs" for the country's publicly-funded healthcare service Medicare.
BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg7wnrp8jnoJessica Mathers, 30, and boyfriend Rob O'Leary had their bid for permanent residency rejected in 2023 due to the potential cost to health services of treating her condition.
...
Ms Mathers's diagnosis of the relapsing-remitting variant of MS in 2020 has led to a visa battle with authorities that could see the pair thrown out of the country.
...
She has received treatment in Australia under a reciprocal health agreement with the UK and said her condition had been "well managed" so far.
But the couple's requests for permanent residency were rejected in 2023 due to the costs associated with her medical care.
Non-citizens entering Australia must meet certain health requirements, including not having "unduly increasing costs" for the country's publicly-funded healthcare service Medicare.
Back in the late 1970s - I'm told the situation has since changed, but going by this report, perhaps not as much as was stated - I worked with a chap who'd emigrated to OZ with his wife and two sons. One of his boys started fitting on occasion and he was treated, with muted success, under their health insurance. It was, according to the doctors, a permanent condition, where only the severity could only be managed. The lad was, more or less, an invalid. There was no problem with funding until about 20 months in when the insurance company refused to cover treatment. He had not, it seemed, become fully naturalised, so different rules applied.
Given the costs of the treatment, both in medication and the chap's wife having to give up her normal 6-day-a-week job to run the child to hospital, his only option was to return to the UK.
There is a sort of upside. When he returned and took his lad a doctor, he was sent to hospital for a full check. They discovered he'd been misdiagnosed. The symptoms were eradicated, that's the fitting, by the lad taking pills, presumably for the rest of his life. He was living a normal sort of life.
Given the costs of the treatment, both in medication and the chap's wife having to give up her normal 6-day-a-week job to run the child to hospital, his only option was to return to the UK.
There is a sort of upside. When he returned and took his lad a doctor, he was sent to hospital for a full check. They discovered he'd been misdiagnosed. The symptoms were eradicated, that's the fitting, by the lad taking pills, presumably for the rest of his life. He was living a normal sort of life.
sugerbear said:
Outrageous that expats are treated this one, if i had my way the aussies would be facing a gunboat in Sydney Harbour as a reminder of who calls the shots. I expect that Starmer wont do that because he is weak.
Eh? They’ve cut their ties with the UK. We didn’t deport them. They elected to go. Magikarp said:
sugerbear said:
Outrageous that expats are treated this one, if i had my way the aussies would be facing a gunboat in Sydney Harbour as a reminder of who calls the shots. I expect that Starmer wont do that because he is weak.
Eh? They’ve cut their ties with the UK. We didn’t deport them. They elected to go. As much as I sympathise with their situation, it’s a privilege not a right to become a resident in another country. Australia have very strict requirements for a reason, and it’s working for them.
Maybe if our government took a similar approach we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in.
Maybe if our government took a similar approach we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in.
90CHPAXL said:
As much as I sympathise with their situation, it’s a privilege not a right to become a resident in another country. Australia have very strict requirements for a reason, and it’s working for them.
Maybe if our government took a similar approach we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in.
Indeed.Maybe if our government took a similar approach we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in.
Bit late now.
90CHPAXL said:
As much as I sympathise with their situation, it’s a privilege not a right to become a resident in another country. Australia have very strict requirements for a reason, and it’s working for them.
Maybe if our government took a similar approach we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in.
Exactly.Maybe if our government took a similar approach we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in.
(Our govt doing the same wouldn't solve the mess we're in. But it wouldn't hurt and should be done).
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