Australian Capital Territory ambulance information

If you hold one or more of the concession cards listed below, you may be entitled to an exemption from paying the ambulance levy and to free ambulance services. To receive this, all individuals listed on the policy must carry a valid and current concession. You should also make sure that the card number and expiry date are on your policy before applying the concession. 

Eligible cards:

• DVA Card
• Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Cards
• Foster Child Health Care Card
• Health Care Concession Card
• Low Income Health Care Card
• Pensioner Concession Card
• Pharmaceutical Benefits Concession Card 

Health insurers are required to pay a "health insurance levy" or "ambulance levy" to the State government for all residential policies which include hospital treatment for permanent residents of the ACT.

An ambulance is road vehicle, boat or aircraft operated by a service approved by Medibank and equipped for the transport and/or paramedical treatment of a person requiring medical attention.

Any ambulance called via 000 or by the hospital or other approved facility is an approved ambulance provider.

An “other approved facility” must be capable of providing immediate professional medical attention, like a medical centre or clinics. It doesn’t need to be closer than the nearest hospital or in a rural area.

We don’t keep a list of these facilities and assess whether one is an “other approved facility” on a case-by-case basis.

It will depend on the service that attends to you.

For an injury in a ski resort there may be a ski patrol that would administer first aid and take you off the mountain to safety. In most cases, the ski patrol is employed by the ski resort and their services are usually provided free of charge. However, the ski patrol is not an approved ambulance provider, so if there is a charge no benefits will be payable.

If an ambulance is dispatched to you via a 000 call, this will automatically be an approved ambulance provider. This means that benefits would be paid because the ambulance was called to attend to provide you with immediate professional attention.

The benefits we pay for ambulance services do not cover search and rescue operations.