Ambulance transport

We can pay for your ambulance journey in an emergency situation. In some non-emergency situations, we may also pay for you to travel by ambulance.

Who can receive it

We may pay for ambulance transport if you have either of the following:

• a Veteran Gold Card for all health conditions, subject to medical need
• a Veteran White Card for your accepted war or service-related injury or illness

Non-liability health care

You may also be eligible for ambulance services when travelling for non-liability health care (NLHC) treatment (not service-related) for any of the following conditions:

• malignant cancer (neoplasia)
• pulmonary tuberculosis
• any mental health condition
• substance use disorder
• alcohol use disorder

What we pay for

We may pay for emergency ambulance transport to your nearest clinical facility that meets your clinical needs.

We may also pay for non-emergency ambulance transport if you:

• require transport on a stretcher
• require treatment during transport
• are severely disfigured or
• are incontinent to a degree that precludes the use of other forms of transport

If you receive an invoice for eligible ambulance services, please contact us before you arrange to pay it.

How you access

Steps to access ambulance transport

1.            In a medical emergency dial 000.

or

For non-emergency ambulance transport your health provider, hospital physician or discharge planner will make the necessary arrangements with the ambulance provider direct.

2.            If possible, notify the ambulance operator of your Veteran White Card or Veteran Gold Card details.

Interstate and overseas travel

If you are eligible for ambulance transport, we are only able to pay for:

• your trip to the nearest clinical facility that meets your clinical needs
• the most appropriate form of transport to take you to your temporary accommodation

If you are travelling to a different state or overseas, we not able to pay for you to be transported back home.

As we may not cover ambulance transport in every instance, you may also wish to consider taking out travel insurance before travelling or going on holidays.

Things you should know

• You may wish to take out general ambulance cover as we may not fund ambulance transport in all instances.
• If there is a clinical need for an inter-hospital transfer via ambulance, the hospital will make the necessary arrangements.
• If you travel by ambulance, we do not pay for the travel expenses of your medically required attendant.
• We do not cover ambulance services for a permanent residential relocation, this includes from one residential aged care facility to another if there is no change in assessed care levels.