Hi everyone,

Can anyone tell me who they have used for ambulance cover please?

I have tried doing a search in FAQ section but it doesnt seem to have been covered. After doing lots of searches and getting varied quotes I am so confused. The best one seems to be medibank...anyone with these please?

Thanks
Marie

I'm sure I remember someone posting saying that you can get it from the post office for about $100 a year, or maybe i was dreaming. :lol: I'm sure someone will put us straight.

Lesley

Yep, $100 for the family cover for a year, straight from the PO - they have a form there from SA Ambulance that you can complete.

I think you can also download the form online?

http://www.saambulance.com.au/publicweb/products-amb.html

Julia :)

Hi Julia, Delboy and Lesley,

Thanks for your replies. I will hopefully get the amulance cover sorted today. Thanks again

Marie
xx

The only State, that I know of, that covers its people for ambulance tansportation for free, is Tasmania, and then only if you happen to live in one of the district councils there that have a deal for its ratepayers with the Tasmanian State gov't for free coverage. . . . . and only then, within Tasmania.
That means if you, anywhere else in Australia, have an accident at home or get injured in the big outside world, and it's not covered by motor accident insurance or work place injury "work-cover", then you are out of pocket.
That can mean you are up for hundreds of dollars . . . even for a short 20 minute drive!
The smart operators get private health cover that covers that sort of accidental stuff for themselves and their families. The major health insurers in Australia cover their clients for ambulance cover in their policies and you get a 30% rebate off the premiums from the Australian Commonwealth (Federal) gov't!
The "extras" cover in private health insurance is almost an essential. If you have teeth, eyes, etc. then at some stage you will need something done for them to keep them in good nick and you will have most of the cost covered with private helath insurance.
Of course, you'll always get the tough guys who think their choppers will see them out without any work needed on them in their lifetime, and that their eyesight will be 100% all the time and they will never need a chiropractor or speech therapist for their kids or need an ambulance or . . . . .
. . . . then they whinge about how expensive it all costs them!!!

. . . . :P

Hi Bob,

Thanks for this. I was going to go for the basic ambulance cover but then as you say, you just never know when you will need the extra. Better start getting quotes for a more 'realistic' cover :)

Thanks
Marie

Quite right - the form for ambulance cover is available at the post office. The cover is $100 per year and is well worth it as we found late last year. My 14 year old collapsed and needed a paramedic ambulance on top of the ordinary ambulance which arrived first. About two weeks later an invoice arrived in error, the cost for two ambulances was $700. We saved all of this by having renewed our ambulance cover a week before he collapsed! You see you never know - he is all recovered now thank goodness.

In the U.K. everything (I think???) is covered under the N.H.S.

Not so in Australia!

. . . . . that's where loads of new settlers from Blighty make a big mistake and just blindly assume that all is covered 100% under Australia's Medicare system.

It ain't!

Australia's Medicare is a carbon copy of Canada's Medicare . . . . which in turn is half way between the U.K.'s 100% coverage of the N.H.S. model and the American "user pays" system.

The basics you get fixed for free under Medicare, but there are loads of extra odds and sods that aren't included in the Medicare list of items, such as dental treatment, eye testing, glasses, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, chiropratic work, podiatry, etc.. . . . and ambulance cover!

It's easy to beleive that if you pay your rates and taxes here, then you're covered for everything. You will soon learn that either yourself or a family member will need something done not covered by Medicare.

That's when it hits the hip pocket . . . . and hard!!!

Anyone sticking around in Australia for a while is smart to take out "Extras" private medical insurance . . . . . at the very least.

It won't break the piggy bank, unlike in America, and is deliberately kept "affordable" by an Australian gov't that beleives all Australians should be able to afford basic health care insurance. Hence the "community rating" on premiums and the 30% rebate on premiums by the gov't.

Check out Medibank Private
Medical Benefits Fund
Mutual Community

These three operate widely throughout South Australia . . . and interstate.

Hi,

Thanks very much for your replies.

After hours of looking into the ones suggested think it looks like we are going to go for the Medibank one.

Thanks again
Marie

Smart move, Marie!

Medibank Private is owned 100% by the Australian Federal gov't and has offices throughout the Commonwealth of Australia, so will give coverage nation-wide.
Personally, I'm with Medical Benefits Fund, but Medibank Private's not bad.

I get 80% back for the cost of dental treatment, eye testing, glasses, physio, chiropractic, etc..
It's affordable for me, my wife Ginnie or any of my three kids to go to the dentist. Last year, both my daughters had orthodontic work done (braces) . . . . I got $1,500 back for each of them = $3,000!!
More than I paid in for the year!!!!!
Without private health insurance, neither would have had braces. I just wouldn't have been able to afford a bill of $3,000.
This year I have to get a crown fixed. Crowns cost over a grand each :o , but paying only 20% makes it affordable :rolleyes:

i'm a little confused myself.
we used an ambulance for a transfer from mt barker hospital to the
women & childrens hospital in adelaide, and it didn't cost us anything, and we have no cover.

If admitted to a public hospital, like Mt. Barker hospital, and you have to be shifted to another hospital for more specialist or intensive care, then the hospital books the ambulance and gets billed for it.
The hopsital is funded by the State gov't which, in turn, gets a bucket of money each year from the Australian Commonwealth (Federal) gov't out of the Medicare levy and general consolidated revenue.
If you collapsed in a shopping mall, or broke your leg, for instance, you'd have to get your mate's ute to take you in the back of it, off to hospital, if you don't want to call an ambulance and cop the bill!
$$$$$$$$$$

i wondered if it was that.
off to hospital in the back of a ute, ... quite like the idea of that.

. . . . yeah!

you can see stars all the way to the hospital!

we have our ambo cover with medibank blue ribbon extras, that covers dental optician and some other stuff $59 per month for family of 5.

But i think Lesely is right also, i remember reading it somewhere ;)