Ambulance Cover In Australia

In an emergency, calling 000 and the resulting trip to hospital are traumatic enough, but imagine receiving a bill afterward. This is where ambulance cover comes into play, often covering expenses like hospital transport and being treated by paramedics. When sickness or injury  happens, our Australian emergency services have your back, but in the heat of the moment, you don’t want to have to worry about the potential bills that could follow calling for help.

Ambulance cover helps reduce the stress of the whole ordeal, helping to cover any large bills left when the dust settles. The cost of an emergency road transport in Victoria can be over $1,300,²Victoria State Government Department of Health – Ambulance fees while membership in states like Victoria, can cost as little as $51.94 annually for a single person.³Ambulance Victoria – Membership

One of the most important things to remember about Ambulance services is that they’re not covered by Medicare. This includes both emergency transport and other non-emergency ambulance services which you may need. 

The main benefit of having Ambulance Cover is that it insures you against the costs of ambulance services. For example, an emergency road transport by ambulance in New South Wales can cost you at least $428.⁴NSW Ambulance – Accounts and fees

How a private health insurance policy treats Ambulance Cover differs with each provider. For example, some funds and policies provide cover for all ambulance travel, whereas others may only cover the costs of emergency transport, ground travel, or include other limitations. 

An example of a limitation is where your policy only covers you for emergency transport to the nearest hospital. After initial diagnosis of your injuries, you may choose to be transferred to another hospital. As this is not emergency transport, some health insurance policies might not cover you for it. 

Another example of a limitation is when a policy doesn’t cover ‘call out’ fees or ‘on the spot treatment’. These are when an ambulance treats you at the scene but doesn’t transport you to hospital. For this reason, it is important to be clear on the details of Ambulance Cover within your health insurance policy. 

As mentioned earlier, depending on which state you live in, you may not have 100% Australia-wide ambulance cover, or you may not have ambulance cover at all. 

In Queensland and Tasmania, Ambulance Cover is covered by the state Government—but only if you’re a resident. Therefore, if you live in VIC, NSW, SA, NT, ACT, or WA, you’ll need to purchase Ambulance Insurance either through a private health fund, or through a state ambulance service. 

Whether you qualify for a discount, and whether or not you need cover depends on the state you live in. Therefore, it’s important to remember that in many cases Ambulance Cover only applies while you’re in your home state, and may not apply if you’re interstate. You’ll need to review the individual aspects of your policy to better understand how your cover is affected by interstate travel. 

In very specific cases, yes. 

Most ambulance services cover particular areas. These areas are called ‘operational boundaries’ and may include suburbs outside of their home state or territory. 

For instance, SA Ambulance also operates within certain areas of Victoria, but this is ultimately at their discretion. 

If you’re thinking of getting an ambulance membership for a different state or territory, it’s important that you speak with that state or territory’s ambulance service first to ensure that they will cover you—especially if any emergency trips are likely to take you interstate. Or, if you get ambulance cover on a health insurance policy, it might be worth speaking to the provider to check which state or territory’s ambulance services they’ll cover.

When selecting a policy with ambulance cover, there are a number of things you might want to keep in mind. These can include:

• Interstate Travel: Look at whether the policy covers you for interstate emergency transport. Whether or not you need to have this is ultimately your choice, but an interstate ambulance trip could be quite costly.
• Non-Emergency Cover: Check if the policy only cover you for emergency situations, or if it also includes coverage for non-emergency situations. Different health funds can define an ‘emergency’ differently, so this is something you’ll want to get clarity on.
• Call-Out Fees:  Some policies may or may not cover you for the ‘call-out’ fee.  It’s important to investigate whether the policy will cover you if you just need treatment—but not transportation—in an ambulance.
• Other Considerations: Lastly, there are three final points to consider in relation to Ambulance Cover. The first is if there are any waiting periods. Secondly, you need to discover if there are any co-payments towards the ambulance fee? Thirdly, you need to find out if the Ambulance Cover will also cover air ambulance, as well as transports provided by State-approved private providers, or other private providers.

Like we discussed earlier, ambulance costs can vary from state to state. The table below breaks down the various costs of emergency transport. This gives you an idea of what you might pay if you’re not covered, and you require emergency ambulances services. It’s important to remember that the figures below are the base costs for getting an ambulance and you could be charged a lot more. For example, in NSW the call out fee for an emergency is $428 but the maximum you could be charged for an ambulance transportation is $7,023.⁵NSW Government: NSW Ambulance – Accounts and Fees

^{Disclaimer: All above information has been sourced from Australian state ambulance authority websites. All figures are accurate as of 5/04/2024.} 

Each state offers different Ambulance Cover concessions. For instance, pensioner concession card holders are often granted free ambulance cover. Additionally, residents in Queensland and Tasmania have state-funded Ambulance Cover. Take a look at the table below to view the arrangements for your state.

If you’re thinking of purchasing a health insurance policy which includes some ambulance coverage, feel free to give us a call on 1800 784 772 or start your comparison online. We’d be happy to walk you through options available from our range of policies and providers.