TROY BELL MP
Member for Mount Gambier
Your Independent voice
in State Parliament
Fuel subsidy doubled for patients
Sunday January 29, 2023Published by The Border Watch
By Aidan Curtis
A COMMON misconception around travel subsidies for regional people seeking medical treatment has been dispelled in the wake of increased financial support.
At the beginning of January, the State Government announced it was doubling the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme (PATS) fuel subsidy from 16 cents per kilometre to 32 cents per kilometre.
While the increase was welcomed by Mount Gambier MP Troy Bell, he said a lot of people in the community still came to him with concerns about PATS for people who needed to travel interstate.
Mr Bell said the region is the biggest user of PATS, so people needed to know they could still claim the subsidy if they were driving interstate for medical treatment.
“We get a lot of people in our office not realising PATS can be used to go to Warrnambool,” he said.
According to SA Health Rural Support Service executive director Debbie Martin, people needed to look more at driving distance to claim PATS rather than what state they sought treatment in.
“To be eligible for the Patient Assistance Support Scheme (PATS) scheme, a person is required to travel more than 100 kilometres from their residence to their treatment location or specialist appointment,” she said.
“This includes people travelling interstate and the medical service they require is not available locally.”
With many people in the region needing to hop the fence into Victoria for cancer treatment, it was especially important for the Mount Gambier Cancer Support Group to see the fuel subsidy doubled.
Cancer Support Group chair Lorraine Musgrove said it was “just brilliant” to hear about the PATS increase.
“With fuel costs as they are, this will have a big financial impact for people needing to travel,” she said.
Ms Musgrove said PATS barely covered even a trip to Adelaide before the increase, so it was especially welcome for Limestone Coast residents who have no choice but to travel long distances for treatment.