We have stopped our ambulance membership after being told by our PHI that ambulance was covered. In a recent conversation with some friends, someone mentioned that the PHI only covers some cases and it's still worthwhile to have an ambulance membership. Is it really the case? Did you have any bad experience with only PHI's ambulance cover?
/WT
Crazy to think that an ambulance isn't free in some locations
Ask your PHI
Did ask a few years ago and we were told "ambulance was covered". I now assume that the lady at the help desk didn't know all the details either.
Read the wording of your policy. It will likely talk about ambulance being covered in "emergency" situations. What they classify as an emergency can be open to interpretation.
This.
Ambulance membership might be good for people who have pre existing conditions that have a lengthy wait period or just have conditions which might not require an accident to call ambulance (like severe allergy).
For a normal healthy person (lucky them) I find it hard to think of an ambulance call which isn't as a result of an accident.
My cheap junk policy mentions ambulance is covered if it is within 24hours of an accident.
My health insurance just writes a blanket statement for all of Australia so asking them is not helpful particularly as they have most of their members in a different state than me. It depends on your state and circumstances and whether you need ambulance transport when visiting another state without reciprocal rights. You can read what the policy offers as a minimum though. You can search ambulance only policies at privatehealth.gov.au
An ambulance Victoria membership is only ~$4.16 per month when paying annually, better to keep the membership as it’s better to pay $4 a month than to pay a ambulance travel bill of thousands of $.
Thanks. Makes great sense.
But why pay for it when you have PHI already?
In addition, ambulance costs covered by TAC in the event of car accident.
Most PHI have restrictions on it and PHI is likely to fight before paying out.
I'm sure that PHI would have some restrictions on it but it won't effect 99.99% of people.
As your comment on 'PHI is likely to fight before paying out.' I've never heard of anyone being knocked back for ambulance cover from PHI.
Care to give us real world examples.
@WoodYouLikeSomeCash: Did you even check the reviews before you provided the links?
The only mention of 'ambulance' on either of the pages was:
We have had 2 claims with Bupa for Ambulance transport and would not be without it now.
The claims process is easy, the communication from Bupa is excellent and the price is very affordable.
Great product Bupa, thank you.
Admittedly I only searched 'ambulance' on the first page, I'm not going to trawl over 866 reviews with Medibank and 947 with BUPA.
If you're going to state PHI that they don't pay, you need to give specific examples not just negative general reviews.
This includes air ambulance too which isn't government funded in Victoria.
It's almost never worth it to have ambulance insurance, unless you are old or have a serious illness then don't waste money on this.
Why? It’s cheap and ambulance trips are expensive. I saw a guy fall off a ladder and have a concussion. I stopped to help and he refused an ambulance because he didn’t want to pay. He wasn’t old, and it was an accident not a serious illness.
It's not expensive enough to be worth insuring.
Most people wouldn't have full insurance on a car worth under $5k, again not worth it.
That's because a car has an excess that's usually more than the cost to repair most damage and it's best done out of pocket. Plus car insurance is way more than $50 a year.
You can pay for ambulance insurance your entire life and if you use it once, for anything, you're better off. Definitely not the same as car insurance.
It's almost never worth it to have ambulance insurance
I see you are in WA and I kinda agree your ambulance call out fees are way cheaper than some other parts of the country. So self insurance could apply for young people.
But your comments don't apply everywhere. For example ACT is $1k callout and $14/km, yes $14 per km travelled….
https://www.news.com.au/best-of/money/how-much-does-an-ambul…
For example ACT is $1k callout and $14/km, yes $14 per km travelled….
Says $14/km for every km travelled outside the ACT
In a car accident the at-fault drivers car insurance pays.
I've had two ambulances deal with situations for me in the past. I was grateful they came. In Victoria the ambulance membership is really quite cheap and supporting the essential service it provides. Win/Win.
In a recent conversation with some friends, someone mentioned that the PHI only covers some cases and it's still worthwhile to have an ambulance membership. Is it really the case?
That is correct, PHI normally only covers an ambulance trip if you get admitted into hospital as part of it. So have a read of your PDS to see what they cover for you.
The problem with most PHI ambulance cover is say you call an ambulance and they attend, but patch you up instead and don't admit you to hospital, then your PHI won't cover you, so you end up with a bill.
This.
I’ve seen PH funds change the ambulance cover from ALL to only emergency transport.
If in VIC, get the annual cover and be assured you’ll never get a surprise bill.
I've seen vic ambulance bills for $2.5k.
4 bux is cheap
https://www.health.vic.gov.au/patient-care/ambulance-fees
EMERGENCY ROAD TRANSPORT FEES*
All users
Metropolitan Emergency Road $1,306
Regional and Rural Emergency Road $1,927
Air transport fees
All users*
Fixed wing
Variable charge $2,316
Fixed charge $3,132
Helicopter
Variable charge** $11,650
Fixed charge $27,732
Geez … didn’t know it cost this much for helicopter transportation fee.
Depends what state
Victoria it's government operated from memory/dirt cheap.
WA is privately run and you'll need to fork out for it.
I have taken it out on the off chance i may need it.
But yeah its only about $1100 for the trip.
In WA, its a lot quicker to get an Uber.
And you get water and mints!
PHI ambulance cover often doesn't include hospital to hospital transfers. But Medicare pays for them so why would you even need that. I pay like $60 a year for ambulance cover with BUPA, it's a lot cheaper than the official ambulance insurance for SA.
Health Insurance ambulance cover is usually only for emergency cases, but check your PDS. We have a family membership to back ourselves in case. Once I got taken to hospital after fainting and the bill took months to come, but was something like $1500. I just let them know I had ambulance cover and it was sorted out, but they never want to check that when you're at the hospital.
You also want to make sure it covers you anywhere in Australia.
I'm in Qld where we are covered nationally by the state government…previously we were covered by PHI for most things, so retained 'membership' with the ambulance for not a lot - regarded it as a donation.
Our private insurance covers 2 emergency trips a year. But it won't cover for hospital to hospital transfer. Say regional hospital when on holiday back to your local public hospital for treatment or between 2 private hospitals for a different specialist or from hospital to rehab hospital. Our ambulance insurance just covers non emergency cover and is even cheaper than full cover. It's $80 a year for Australia wide family cover.
Not quite as value for money as Amazon prime but could save thousands when needed.
Victoria here, live rural. Personal experience injured at home (not accidental), required surgery in Melbourne and then horizontal for a few weeks after. Flew home in an air ambulance. Non personal experience. Even though we have a well equipped local hospital, there are regular (ave 10 days) transports to melb via air ambulance. The chopper lands near me you can hear it. Added bonus they don’t ramp the chopper.
You may not live rural but you may visit and kms cost. It’s insurance, and it’s cheap. ($100 odd family, $50 single). For a no argument/conditions. For whatever reason you may require an ambulance, you are covered. With PHI policies, they all have a conditional coverage re ambulance transport. Disclaimer. I’m 59 and have silver (no need for gold no maternity coverage required) PHI. I’ve always had it, and I’m not a wealthy person.
When/if you need an ambulance, the cost of direct insurance is well worth the peace of mind of not having the stress etc of dealing with potential issues re insurance coverage and or expenses.
I’d rather have cover than have to deal with the $1000 bill that we had for a literal 2km call-out.
Got bill
Filled out online form for health fund details
Never heard about it again
Queenslanders, you're in luck as your ambulance services are provided free of charge by your State Government
A Queenslander who’s is not an ambulance subscriber and needs an ambulance while visiting in Victoria (car accident excepted) will still need to pay.
Ex - Vic Paramedic 37 years.
And for most people - don’t think a cat bite gets you a free ride to hospital cos your health fund “covers Ambulance”.
Even if Paramedics took you, Health fund unlikely to regard it as Emergency.
I think most health funds will rebate the cost of Ambulance subscription - a safer bet for small outlay.
All PHI policies may be different. You need to ask them what exactly you are covered for. Common things to ask is if you are covered if you need to be moved between hospitals once admitted, if you call an ambulance to your house and it is not an emergency and I am sure there are other scenarios. All I know is my mother had ambulance on health insurance but had to go to a different hospital for some reason and that was not covered by her PHI.She needed to use her separate ambulance cover.
Thanks Liberial Party for grinding down healthcare and attempting to privatise it that there is even a need to discuss ambulance costs.
We lost nearly a decade to them but it will take 20yrs to get Australia back to where we were after their economic and social vandalism.
Perhaps you are not aware, however the administration for health services, covering hospitals and emergency services is a state responsibility, and not a federal one?
Regardless of your political leanings, blaming the federal government for this is not correct. Please see https://www.health.gov.au/about-us/the-australian-health-sys…
I'm not really sure but, to the best of my knowledge, free ambulance cover is extended to all residents in an emergency.
The ambulance officers will come and assess you if you need to go to the hospital or not, and if you need to go to hospital they will take you there for free.
BUT free ambulance services do not cover non-emergency situations (when the ambulance officers come and asses you, that you don't need to go to the hospital, but you choose to go with them to the hospital anyway).
So, because of the free ambulance service being only available in emergencies, every other times people need or want an ambulance, it will cost them thousands (even for very short trips) unless they have ambulance cover.
The situations that are not covered for free ambulance service include transport between hospitals or medical centres, which are not emergencies.
This is important if you have PHI because an ambulance will generally take you to the closest hospital, which can be a public or private hospital, and most people would prefer to be treated in the hospital of their choice, which often is not the closest one to them.
Another example where you will need to pay or have ambulance cover, is for patient transport.
This can include picking up people who are severely or chronically ill, and taking them to a hospital for tests or treatment which can only be performed at a hospital.
So, it depends on the situation, and whether it is an emergency or not, which determines whether you are entitled for free transport or not.
As an example, I remember my friend worked security in a shopping centre, and ate a kebab which, within an hour, made him projectile vomit and suffer from diarrhoea which soaked through his pants.
An ambulance came and took him to the hospital, and afterwards he got a bill for the ambulance service in the thousands of dollars.
Why did he have to pay?
I think it's because his condition, while very uncomfortable, was not a medical emergency (unless he was subsequently diagnosed with a medical emergency in hospital, which probably had nothing to do with what he ate).
I remember it was funny later, when he told me about that trip to the hospital. He said that the ambulance officer(s) were dry retching just watching him be sick in the ambulance (which must have been really severe because ambulance officers are usually used to these types of things).
Anyway, it was probably assessed as not being a medical emergency, which is why he had to pay (unless the ambulance officers wanted to pay him back for completely soaking their ambulance in vomit and faeces, lol jk).
So, if you think you may need, or want, to be able to use the ambulance service in circumstances which are not medical emergencies, then getting ambulance cover is probably a good idea.
But, you need to read the terms and conditions of the ambulance cover very carefully. So that you know exactly what situations are covered and, more importantly, which situations are not covered by the ambulance insurance or PHI.
Keep in mind that any oral advice you receive from the ambulance cover provider can't always be relied on.
Because if it ever comes to disputing any bills, it doesn't matter what you have been told, it only matters what you can prove in court (so read the contract very carefully and make sure that it suits your needs).
P.S. of course, these are just my personal opinions, and I may be wrong about some things, which just underscores the importance of making sure that you have read the relevant document(s) and know whether or not the ambulance cover suits your needs.
a lot of PHI won't include transfer to different hospitals, it's worth paying the $60/year or whatever it is as even if you used the ambulance once in your entire life and you paid it your entire life you'd be winning. PHI usually (will need to check your PDS) includes ambulance for emergencies only and if you call an ambulance and they deem it not an emergency you'd probably have to pay out of pocket
It depends on the state where you reside and the one where you receive services. In NSW for example, private health insurers needs to pay an ambulance levy on behalf of the NSW residents they cover. NSW Ambulance ceased offering policies directly to individuals years ago. While I'm not 100% certain of this due to contradictory verbiage on their web site, it appears that the arrangement with insurers covers non-emergency transfers in NSW and at least emergency transport in states that have reciprocal agreements with NSW. Beyond that you need to look at what the private health insurance itself covers or even take out an ambulance only policy if you want Australia wide coverage.
read your PDS.