Protecting you in an emergency
Living in Australia, many would expect Medicare to cover ambulance services. The reality is that in most states, calling and using an ambulance is costly, with fees being hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Even if someone else calls the ambulance for you. The good news is, having hospital cover with Doctors’ Health Fund means you’re covered if you ever need an ambulance, even if you don’t end up going to hospital.
Ambulance cover with Doctors’ Health Fund
All Doctors’ Health Fund hospital products provide national cover for emergency and medically necessary ambulance services, by air, land or sea. This cover has a waiting period of one day and there’s no limit to each service or how many times you need to use it throughout the year. It’ll also cover you if you’re an admitted patient in hospital and need to be transported to another facility.
Emergency vs non-emergency ambulance
Even in an emergency, ambulance services are not free as there is no national scheme for the cost of emergency transport or ambulance services to hospital.
Some states and territories provide free or subsidised services for non-emergency patient transport to eligible patients, such as those who are receiving ongoing medical treatment or have a chronic medical condition.
Subscriptions and private health insurance
Have you ever wondered if you should have a subscription with a state-based service?
Cover options are available through some state-based subscriptions or private health insurers for ambulance services, to protect consumers against the hefty out-of-pocket costs that can arise. In most cases, you won’t need both to be adequately protected – this is something we recommend to our members as we offer a comprehensive level of protection.
Are there any limitations?
Private health insurance can also only cover ambulance services provided by a state-run organisation, such as NSW Ambulance, but not any private provider, for example the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This might be of particular interest if you live, or are travelling, in rural and remote parts of Australia.
Concessions apply
There are several concession categories that can provide those eligible a discount or may mean the government scheme covers you for ambulance services instead of your Doctors’ Health Fund policy. This again varies, depending on the state or territory of residence, the details of which are available through the resource provided below.
Whatever your situation, it’s important to understand the cover you have and that it’s there if you ever need it.
Here’s a useful resource to understand ambulance cover in Australia.
Learn more. https://privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/what_is_covered/ambulance.htm
