In late 2002, the Queensland Government announced that it would make ambulance cover available to all Queenslanders.
In February 2003, the government subsequently announced that the ambulance scheme would be funded through a levy on all business and residential electricity bills, and would come into effect from 1 July 2003.
In light of this decision and after consultation with the Queensland Government, Medibank Private has decided to close its Queensland Ambulance Only cover from 1 July 2003. Any Ambulance Only members who have premiums paid up beyond 1July 2003 will have that money refunded.
Medibank Private will also remove the ambulance cover component from its Queensland ancillary products and PackagePlus products, also effective from 1 July 2003. The removal of Ambulance Cover from these products was factored into the recent rate changes.
Medibank Private Managing Director George Savvides said that in the circumstances, withdrawing Medibank Private's ambulance coverage from the market was the only logical decision.
"However, our main concern was to ensure our members were not disadvantaged and remained covered for ambulance transport through the transition," Mr Savvides said.
About 11,000 Queenslanders are covered by Medibank Private's Ambulance Only product, while over 510,000 Queenslanders have ambulance cover through either Medibank Private ancillary or PackagePlus products.
Medibank Private will write to all affected members around the end of April, outlining these ambulance coverage changes in detail. Members can also contact the Medibank Private Customer Care Line on 132 331 or visit one of the 21 Queensland Retail Centres.