@arpie
The WA Country Health Service (WACHS) has just increased the daily accomodation reimbursement amount from $60 to $102 per night. A decade long overdue increase.
What WACHS has not improved are the rules / regulations around a Carer / Escort when seeking medical treatment far from home, in spite of what is written in the glossy brochures.
I have been advocating for over five years now that a Carer / Escort should be automatically approved for Seniors. Currently approval for a Carer/ Escort requires a begging letter from a GP outlining the need. Even then approval can be refused.
Airfares for a Carer / Escort, who is not approved but wishes to accompany the family member, from my remote region to treating clinic based in a large city down south are in the ball park figure of $1,000 return, an amount not even remotely possible on an Age Pension.
Some of us have "hidden" disabilities, which we tend to keep to ourselves, that make a three hour drive from home to departing airport followed by a three hour flight, difficult on our own.
Seniors in my town often decide that the travel situation is far too difficult on their own and make treatment / followup decisions based on inadequate medical services closer to home.
Definitely leaves one thinking that treatment is based on Postcode.
