Do you have to travel 1hr+ to your appointments/treatments/surgery?
Hi guys If you live in Rural/Regional or Remote areas of Australia and regularly have to travel at least 50-100k each way (depending on which state you live in) to attend your Doctor, specialist, surgeon, treatment or require surgery ..... you are able to claim a travel reimbursement on fuel and accommodation spent on getting there. Many of us don't find out about the Patients Assistance Travel Schemes until we are well into our treatment schedules & some may have missed the opportunity to claim at all, as most have a time frame whereby submissions need to be done - or you miss out. Below is a 'general' weblink to all the State's and Territory's Patient Assisted Travel Schemes Fact Sheet/Guide .... CLICK ON THE ACTUAL WEBLINK below the State Name to get more accurate info - or to speak with someone. https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PATS-Fact-Sheet-and-Guide-2025.pdf It is a well known fact that those living in Rural, remote & regional areas receive sub-standard treatment and appointment options, compared to those living in our bigger cities. Often we just do not even HAVE the facilities that our city cousins take so much for granted - be it CT/MRI scans or even 3D Mammograms which are so important on accurate BC detection! My own ILC BC was missed as I had been using the BreastScreen Buses that only use 2D Mammograms - that totally missed it! .... I had to have an xray the other day - but our only radiology centre was fully booked for 2 weeks for an xray (heaven forbid if you needed a Ultrasound/CT or MRI - that could be a 4+ week wait!) So I drove 50k each way to the nearest 'walk in' xray facility at the closest public hospital ... but that doesn't count towards the Patients Assistance Travel Scheme in NSW. (It does in Qld and Tas, where it is only a 50k requirement for cancer treatment!) So read up on what you need to do to be able to make a claim ..... we have a private group that you can join where you can ask questions .... if you need a carer to accompany you, some of their accommodation expenses may also be covered. Group: Connecting rural, regional & remote areas | BCNA Online Network This is the Gov's way of helping us see who we need to see, for the best outcomes of our medical treatment & surgeries and ongoing surveillance. Each State/Territory has different requirements and payments .... so it is worth getting onto them early, as it really does help with the cost of 'getting there'.