Regional patients are being forced to endure long and costly journeys for specialist medical treatment because they no longer meet the tightened criteria for assistance with flights under the Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme (VPTAS).
Speaking in Parliament this week, Member for Mildura, Jade Benham has called on the Minister for Health to urgently review recent changes to the VPTAS and increase reimbursements in line with CPI and rising costs.
VPTAS reimbursements have remained largely unchanged for the past 11 years and are now the lowest in Australia, despite the significant distances regional Victorians must travel to access specialist healthcare.
Recent changes to VPTAS have also introduced strict and narrow medical criteria for patients seeking reimbursement for flights to Melbourne.
For patients in Mildura who need specialist treatment that is not available locally, the alternative to a one-hour flight can be more than eight hours on a bus or around six hours in a car.
Patients who do travel are then expected to make do with just $45 a night for accommodation and 21 cents per kilometre.
