G'day all,

Having spent a few weeks in South Aust. I learned that in most states, WA excepted, Pensioners in receipt of the full aged pension find it is necessary to be a member of an ambulance fund.

Here in the West this is not the case, one only needs to give St. John's ambulance a pension number and transport to or from a public hostpital is free with the exception of transport to a private hospital. Below I include a copy of the e-mail sent to me from St. John's.

From: Stacy Cameron-Dow [Stacy.Cameron-Dow@ambulance.net.au]
Dear Mr Hyde

If you and your wife are West Australian residents and both receiving full Australian Aged pensions, then the only time you would have to pay for an Ambulance transport is if you went between a public and private hospital, or between two private hospitals.

If you required an ambulance while inter-state you would need to forward your bill onto us with your pension number and proof or residency and we would then take care of the bill for you.

If you are not receiving a pension, then you would need to take out Ambulance cover through a Private Health Fund, as we do not offer memberships to residents residing in the metropolitan area.

If you have any more questions do not hesitate to contact me on
tel. (08) 9334-1486.

Kind Regards
Stacey.

I realise this will only affect WA residents but thought it worth a mention.

Best Regards and Safe Travelling.
John