ambulance cover

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

ambulance cover

Whenarewethere · Guru

In NSW other half was carted to hospital in the ambulance recently due to a fall on our typical council footpaths. She has a NSW senior card but is not on a pension. Ambulance was free.

PeterInSa · Guru

Re SA if you have cover in Tassie their maybe some reciprocal arrangement, but I doubt it. But if you a SA resident and have medical cover eg Bupa, my understanding is that even if you pay for SA ambulance cover, they will charge Bupa or you for the ride ( and don't return your subscription, you should have read the fine print.) And the SA Ambulance cover is only for SA.(& residents?)

We have Bupa cover, for from memory 2 emergencies per year, not non emergencies and the classification of the trip is determined by the ambos. You can get non emergency Bupa cover but from memory I questioned the cost benefits.

This my understanding for SA and non SA residents, which may not be correct, do your own research as an accident/hospital trip could be a costly exercise in SA.

Possum3 · Guru

We have BUPA Ambulance cover www.bupa.com.au/health-insurance/ambulance-cover
I was flown from Darwin to Sydney with specialist nurse attending nil out of pocket for me - fantastic!

bgt · Guru

Try this site.

https://www.comparingexpert.com.au/health-insurance/ambulance-cover/

Scroll down to see what each state covers.

-- Edited by bgt on Sunday 16th of May 2021 10:10:48 AM

Mike Harding · Guru

Good question. According to Ambulance Victoria I am covered for all interstate travel:

Ambulance Victoria

According to Ambulance Tasmiania you are not covered for Qld and SA:

Ambulance Tasmania

You may need to look at private insurance?

Grumpytoo · Senior Member

Ambulance sevices are all state run. Out of your home state you will need insurance coverage.

bobsa · Senior Member

There are 2 rates of SA Ambulance cover for residents of South Australia
if only cover in SA $88.50
cover for Sa + interstate $104.60
all include RFDS

www.saambulance.com.au/productsservices/ambulancecover.aspx

Bob

-- Edited by bobsa on Sunday 16th of May 2021 05:22:17 PM

bgt · Guru

Being interstate may not mean you are out of luck. We live in QLD. Had the need for an ambulance in Vic. As long as we quoted our home address they would honour our QLD service. States have, or may have, reciprocal agreements.

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

Thanks for replies ,will phone Tas Ambulance tomorrow see what they say

oldbloke · Guru

We have Defence health insurance. Covered for just about any situation in all states. Check your cover

dorian · Guru

I just noticed these exclusions in Medibank's ambulance cover:

When are benefits not payable?

- inter-hospital transfers when, as an admitted patient, youre transferred from one public hospital to another public hospital

- any ambulance transport required after discharge from hospital (e.g. transport from hospital to home)

- ambulance services where immediate professional attention isnt required (e.g. general patient transportation)

The first one took me completely by surprise.

After pondering these exclusions, I'm wondering whether ambulance cover in regional areas is of any use at all. If you're seriously ill or injured, you get a free ride to Dubbo hospital, but then you're stung for the ride from Dubbo to Sydney.

-- Edited by dorian on Monday 17th of May 2021 06:21:07 AM

dorian · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
In NSW other half was carted to hospital in the ambulance recently due to a fall on our typical council footpaths. She has a NSW senior card but is not on a pension. Ambulance was free.

How did you manage that? A NSW Seniors Card is not on the list of exemptions:

https://www.ambulance.nsw.gov.au/our-services/accounts-and-fees/exemptions-from-nsw-ambulance-fees

-- Edited by dorian on Monday 17th of May 2021 05:54:23 AM

dorian · Guru

deleted

-- Edited by dorian on Monday 17th of May 2021 05:54:04 AM

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

Understand that not all Private Health Insurance covers for ambulance cover, in particular from a private hospital to a public hospital - check with your insurers. Also in some cases if you are not admitted as an in-patient at a public hospital and they transfer you to another public hospital using the Ambulance Service there may be issues as well - check with your insurer

For Victorians Ambulance cover is cheap compared to an Ambulance bill

-- Edited by Trevor 57 on Tuesday 18th of May 2021 03:20:13 PM

bgt · Guru

Just one more complication !!!

We have private insurance and I'm a regular at our nearby private hospital. Walking up to the ER gets you a nice wait in the waiting room. Calling an ambulance gets you straight in to ER.

dabbler · Guru

In most cases, you are best to go with the Ambulance Service cover provided by your home state along with any upgrades that extend interstate transport. Even these are variable. All forms of insurance, whether it's purely ambulance transport insurance or incorporated into health insurance, are offered by profit making businesses and cover can vary wildly. For instance, they don't all offer patient transfers (which are NOT necessarily covered by Hospital services) and may not cover services by ambulance personnel that doesn't require transport. It's an area where everyone needs to make a decision that suits themselves and their circumstances.

KFT · Guru

dorian wrote:
I just noticed these exclusions in Medibank's ambulance cover:

When are benefits not payable?
- inter-hospital transfers when, as an admitted patient, youre transferred from one public hospital to another public hospital
- any ambulance transport required after discharge from hospital (e.g. transport from hospital to home)
- ambulance services where immediate professional attention isnt required (e.g. general patient transportation)

The first one took me completely by surprise.
After pondering these exclusions, I'm wondering whether ambulance cover in regional areas is of any use at all. If you're seriously ill or injured, you get a free ride to Dubbo hospital, but then you're stung for the ride from Dubbo to Sydney.

-- Edited by dorian on Monday 17th of May 2021 06:21:07 AM

Hi Dorian,

As I understand it (when I worked for nsw health) a clinically determined transfer from one hospital to another is costed to the requesting hospital. Due to budget restraints this caused the creation of "patient transport services" run by both nsw ambulance and health services in an effort to cut down the cost.

I am uncertain if that is still the case though.

Frank

Southern Cruizer · Guru

Our private extras cover, cover us Australia wide for air, sea or road transport. Only spoke to them a couple of weeks ago when re organising what we wanted to be covered for

Craig1 · Guru

There are lots of Patient Transport vehciles around here, run between Albury Culcairn Wagga, Griffith etc. They were free a couple of years ago.

dabbler · Guru

A patient requested transfer that involves a private hospital is often treated differently to a medically required transfer. The most common time this happens is when a patient is in a hospital a long way from family and friends and wish to relocate to hospital closer to home.

Bicyclecamper · Guru

Where do Disabled pensioners stand( also a Vet pension - White card), do we have to have Ambulance cover if we go interstate from NSW?

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

bgt wrote:
Just one more complication !!!

We have private insurance and I'm a regular at our nearby private hospital. Walking up to the ER gets you a nice wait in the waiting room. Calling an ambulance gets you straight in to ER.

that won't happen in a public hospital any more, they just triage you and add you to the list which in turn ties up Ambulances, as they can't leave you until you have been handed over to hospital staff - it is called 'ramping' - a huge waste of Ambulance resources

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

dorian wrote:
I just noticed these exclusions in Medibank's ambulance cover:

When are benefits not payable?
- inter-hospital transfers when, as an admitted patient, youre transferred from one public hospital to another public hospital
- any ambulance transport required after discharge from hospital (e.g. transport from hospital to home)
- ambulance services where immediate professional attention isnt required (e.g. general patient transportation)

The first one took me completely by surprise.
After pondering these exclusions, I'm wondering whether ambulance cover in regional areas is of any use at all. If you're seriously ill or injured, you get a free ride to Dubbo hospital, but then you're stung for the ride from Dubbo to Sydney.

that is exactly what I was talking about in my post above - private health insurance, is just another 'insurance company' - trying their best to not pay out

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

Southern Cruizer wrote:
Our private extras cover, cover us Australia wide for air, sea or road transport. Only spoke to them a couple of weeks ago when re organising what we wanted to be covered for

ask for their cover documents and read them for yourself - don't trust an operator on the other end of the phone. Our daughter, who used to work in insurance, rang Medibank and asked some questions about ambulance cover, she asked them to send her the policy documents, once she read them, they were very different to what the operator was saying - you need to read their documents, not listen to some anonymous person on the other end of a phone, just as Dorian (above) found out

Possum3 · Guru

Bicyclecamper wrote:
Where do Disabled pensioners stand( also a Vet pension - White card), do we have to have Ambulance cover if we go interstate from NSW?

Ric, Department of Veterans Affairs Health Card holders are covered for state ambulance services in every state and territory. This website gives details about conditions and restrictions.

See Ambulance (privatehealth.gov.au) for All State Conditions.

oldbloke · Guru

dabbler wrote:
A patient requested transfer that involves a private hospital is often treated differently to a medically required transfer. The most common time this happens is when a patient is in a hospital a long way from family and friends and wish to relocate to hospital closer to home.

That's my understanding. If you request it, you pay. If the Dr or hospital requests its covered under ambo cover.

Trevor 57 · Senior Member

oldbloke wrote:
That's my understanding. If you request it, you pay. If the Dr or hospital requests its covered under ambo cover.

when a public hospital calls for a transfer to another public hospital, it is my understanding the hospital pays under a funding arrangement with the (Victorian) State Government