A MALMSBURY woman who falsely claimed $200,000 from Medicare to feed her gambling habit has avoided jail.

Andrea Golic, 31, today faced Bendigo County Court after pleading guilty to two counts of obtaining financial advantage and one charge of attempting to obtain financial advantage. 

Golic stole almost $200,000 from Medicare and more than $42,000 from her private health insurance provider. She also gambled away about $200,000 of her parents' money, forcing them to remortgage their home.

Yesterday, she avoided a jail term after a judge ruled the circumstances of her offending were exceptional.

During a plea hearing on Tuesday, the court was told Golic was a pathological gambler with a long history of mental illness.

It heard the she was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour in 2006 and lived in a constant state of uncertainty for five years before finding a surgeon who would operate. Her lawyer told the court after living with a death sentence for so long, his client had become socially isolated and depressed and could not handle being cured.

Today, Judge Mark Dean said it was clear her gambling was linked to her mental illness. He said while jail was warranted given the substantial amount of money involved, Golic was deserving of some mercy.

He sentenced Golic to two years and four months jail for the two Medicare charges and released her on a Commonwealth recognisance order requiring her to be of good behaviour for two years.

On the remaining charge relating to the insurance provider, Judge Dean imposed a two-year community corrections order with 80 hours of unpaid working, ongoing supervision and treatment and assessment for mental health issues.