A:

Medicare offers you treatment in a public hospital and that may mean a long waiting list. You will also not be able to choose your own healthcare provider.

If you choose to be a self-insured private patient, Medicare pays a percentage of the schedule fees for private inpatient medical treatment such as those provided by surgeons and anesthetists. As their fees can often be well above the scheduled fees, the resulting gap for you to pay can sometimes be quite large.

Finally, Medicare doesn’t cover those ‘extras’ which arise in life such as dental, optical, and physio treatments.