Just heard this on the news and read on above link:
Starting from 1st July 2011
Singles
WAS: $75
NOW: $37.50
Families
WAS: $150
NOW: $75
I suppose this is a good deal for those thinkin about signing up, shame I signed up 2 months ago!
50% off Annual Ambulance Victoria Membership from 1st July
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good deal.forget about plasma,LCD,hdd.this is the one you mush have in life if you don't have private health cover.
most private health cover does not cover Ambulance :) good finding
Unless they are different over East to here in WA. Almost all plans cover emergency ambulance.
You do have to pay extra for broke-a-nail ambulance cover.
Agreed - my health insurance includes emergency ambulance. Of course, I don't see my health insurance provider reducing their premiums to allow for this decreased cost any time soon.
3 years back my friend had bad experience. end up paying out of pocket.
My basic private health cover policy covers it here in the ACT - used it a couple of times too!
err most Do cover it….some don't cover non emergency Ambos transfer, such as transfer between hospitals as an existing patient.
If you have a health care card you are covered for ambulance as well
That's good, because from 1st July, my union membership will no longer cover for ambulance membership.
Moving to VIC soon. Thanks poster!!
The cheapest health insurance policies such as Frank, don't cover ambulance. Also anything you pay goes to improving the ambulance service instead of the insurance company.
So, being a single, what would you recommend, this government ambulance 'deal' or a better value private health insurance, from an OZB point of view?
i'm not sure the decision whether to have private cover or not should be considered "from a OZB POV" only.
personally i think private cover is a must (or a high priority depending on your circumstances)- before anyone says "easy for you to say.. you obviously can afford it" - even when i was in uni, married and with child we still put aside money for it
i dont have time to have long rant about my opinions (paper due tomorrow)… just think there is more to health than the "OZB POV"single people tear ACL's / need colonoscopies etc - not so simple in the public system if it is not deemed "urgent"
Well, I renewed mine two weeks ago and feel absolutely cheated. I have emailed them to complain- no harm in trying - lets see what they say back..
let us know how you go, hopefully you'll get your money back!
This isn't new news, it was a State Government’s election promise
yeah it's a election promise, not a normal promise….that along with the free zoo entrance for kids, is good! but they're keeping myki
It's the first I've heard if it - and actions speak louder than words :)
But gr8 deal. My basic HBA cover doesn't hav ambo cover. I think a basic ambo ride costs approx $5-8k?
nah
Billing Policy
St John Ambulance is a ‘user pays’ organisation which means that travelling in an ambulance is not free.The cost of ambulance transport varies depending on the nature of the call out. Below are our standard fees for the different services we offer.
For insurance against these fees, coverage can be provided through private health insurers such as Health Benefit Fund (HBF). If you are a pensioner you may also be covered for ambulance transport (refer to the Ambulance Cover section below for further information).
Service Fee
Life threatening $779
Urgent $779
Routine Transport $418
Patient Transport Vehicle $383
No GST on private ambulance
I also paid only a few weeks back, bummer!
Had to get an ambulance to come to my rural location, stabilize me and and take me to hospital last week.
Sooo glad my membership was paid up. You hope never to use it, but you just never know…Also, why feel cheated and complain if you pay a price and it changes 3 weeks later? That's the way the cookie crumbles.
Good luck trying that on your next plasma tv, furniture etc… Hah, hah.
Hang on… The muesli bars I bought today were on special last week. I've been robbed I tell you! :-pthis is great and should be shared around, no more excuses not to have ambulance cover
This is a great bargain, election promise or not, this is great!
I don't care if I did or did not pay the full amount, I am certainly not complaining like others on here.If it increases a take up of cover by more people it is a bonus to the whole community!
This needs more coverage to the community so more people know about it.
My health insurance covers emergency ambulance only - So I guess if you don't flatline on the way to hospital, you're stuck with the ambo bill..
I'll definitely be signing up for ambulance cover come 1st July!
Good deal, a better deal would be to move to QLD to get FREE Ambulance :)
Bloody ambulance should be free in Queensland as the bruce highway is basically a goat track past the Noosa turn off (Eumundi)
Technically at the moment it is built into the electricity bills tho.
(till 30june)
I signed up for a new Single Membership in June despite knowing that the price would halve from July, and I have no regrets. I chose the quarterly Easy Pay option which allowed me to start being covered immediately for $18.75 but still take advantage of the reduced price from my next payment in 3 months' time. It was more important to me to be covered right away (my Health Care Card expired) than to save $9.375 by waiting until July 1.
As far as I'm aware, all private health insurance policies will cover emergency ambulance transport, but non-emergency may vary. Remember that if your taxable income is more than about $77,000 in a financial year and you don't have private health insurance, you will be hit with the Medicare Levy Surcharge, so it would be cost-effective to buy it for that alone, as though the health benefits were a bonus!
I actually think its a good for there to be a fee for Ambulance Cover. Beacause I was working at the hospital in Tassie and because Ambualance costs nothing there, people misuse it for non-urgent cases (classic case of the guy with the sore throat and despite paramedics being quite frustrated, they still had to send him to the hospital AND wait with him there until there was a bed available in ED)
They should have put him in a straight jacket and sent him to the other hospital ;-)
Should this be in forums??
/begin rant/ I agree it is more of a bargain than ususal price but heck I pay my taxes and probably should get if free anyway /end rant/