Victorian Public Dental Scheme

Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) provides a range of public dental services to eligible members of the Victorian community. These include adult dental services, the School Dental Service and specialist and emergency services.

The general adult dental service can be accessed by Pensioner Concession Card and Centrelink Health Care Card holders.

Dental services provided are general dental care including fillings and preventative care, emergency dental care and denture services.

A co-payment of $21 is payable upon each visit up to a maximum of $84 for general dental care.

Emergency dental visits require a co-payment of $21. Acrylic dentures are available at a cost under $105.

The School Dental Service provides dental care to children and adolescents. Students attending primary school up to year 12 may be eligible to receive treatment. There is no charge for children whose families have a Pensioner Concession Card or a Health Care Card. A charge of $25 is applicable for children whose families do not have an eligible card.

For more information, please contact the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne on (03) 9341 1200 or the local community dental clinics as listed in this guide.

Ambulance Services

The Metropolitan Ambulance Service and Rural Ambulance Victoria provide medically necessary ambulance transportation free to pensioners and Centrelink Health Care Card holders who do not have access to another entitlement through other Government agencies.

The ambulance concession covers all medically necessary ambulance transport services, including the air ambulance service.

Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme

The Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme (VPTAS) assists rural Victorians with travel and accommodation costs incurred when travelling long distances for specialist medical/dental treatment.

To be eligible for assistance, patients must be Victorian residents, have a current referral to the nearest medical/dental specialist or approved place of treatment, and have to travel more than 100 kilometres (one way), or an average of 500 kilometres per week (if receiving treatment in a block of at least five weeks) -known as Block Treatment Subsidy, from their home to the location of treatment.

Application forms are available from most doctors' surgeries, hospital social workers and DHS rural regional offices.

For more information about VPTAS, contact the VPTAS Coordinator located at your local DHS Rural Regional Office (refer Key Telephone Numbers).

Red Cross Medical Transport

The Australian Red Cross provides a free transport service to and from hospital or a medical appointment for people who cannot use public transport or afford a taxi.

For further details contact the Red Cross on (03) 8327 7700.

The College of Optometry and the Victorian Eye Care Service

The Victorian College of Optometry provides low cost eye care for people on low-incomes, and is also responsible for the Victorian Eye Care Service.

The service is available to pensioners, Centrelink Health Care Card holders and Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card or White Card holders.

Dependants listed on a concession card under the age of 16 are also entitled to the service.

The service provides free eye examinations and low cost prescription glasses to concession cardholders.

The cost of glasses starts from $29 for reading and distance glasses, and from $49.50 for bifocals.

Contact lenses can also be provided at a moderate cost.

The service is available at the main Carlton campus.

To make an appointment, contact (03) 9349 7455 or, alternatively, lodge an appointment request form online at www.vco.org.au/clinical-services/metro-service-appointments.htm# (external link).

The service is also provided at a number of suburban clinics located at Broadmeadows, Braybrook, Doveton-Hallam, East Preston and Frankston (refer to the Key Telephone Numbers of this publication for details).

The Victorian Eye Care Service provides eye care and low cost prescription glasses to permanent residents of country Victoria.

The service is provided to pensioners and persons who have held a Centrelink Health Care Card for at least six months.

For information about the Victorian Eye Care Service or to arrange an appointment, contact (03) 9349 7434.

Community Health Centres

Community health centres provide a range of medical and allied health services to local residents. These include services provided by doctors, dentists, podiatrists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

For further information about the services provided at your local community health centre, refer to the Key Telephone Numbers section for the Community Health Centre in your area.

Office of Hearing Services

The Office of Hearing Services manages the Commonwealth funded hearing services program. Services include free hearing assessment, an appropriate hearing aid or other hearing device from a range of devices and training in how to use them.

Persons eligible to access the scheme include holders and dependants of the following concession cards:

• Pensioner Concession Card
• Centrelink Health Care Card (Sickness Allowance – only)
• Gold Card
• DVA White Card (issued specifically for hearing purposes).

For more information about the program, contact the Office of Hearing Services on 1800 555 013 or 1800 500 496 (TTY).

Health Care Advocacy

People experiencing difficulties with health care services in Victoria can contact the following organisations:

Office of the Health Services Commissioner

The Health Services Commissioner provides a free and confidential service that helps people with complaints about health services in Victoria, and issues regarding the privacy of health information.

The Office assists in the resolution of complaints and can conciliate between consumers and health service providers.

Contact (03) 8601 5200 or 1800 136 066 or visit www.health.vic.gov.au (external link)

Mental Health Review Board

The Board conducts reviews of, and hears appeals by, psychiatric patients being treated involuntarily either as inpatients or on community treatment orders who want to leave a psychiatric hospital or have their cases reviewed.

Contact (03) 8601 5270 or toll free 1800 242 703 or visit www.mhrb.vic.gov.au (external link)

Mental Health Legal Centre

The Mental Health Legal Centre provides a free and confidential legal service to anyone who has experienced mental illness in Victoria. The centre provides information and advocacy about the rights of mental health clients and aims to promote the rights of people who experience mental illness.

Contact the centre on (03) 9629 4422 or toll free on 1800 555 887.

Paying for Medical Services and Pharmaceuticals

Medicare

The Commonwealth Government provides assistance for medical expenses to all members of the public through Medicare.

A Medicare card entitles the holder to rebates on basic hospital and medical costs.

A Commonwealth concession card (PCC or HCC) does not entitle the holder to reduced hospital and medical costs.

Doctors are not bound by Medicare’s scheduled rates and therefore may charge what they like. However, if the Commonwealth concession card is shown with the Medicare card, some doctors may reduce the charge in recognition of the status of the Commonwealth cardholder.

Doctors Fees

If the doctor bulk bills then all treatment is free of charge. Some doctors only bulk bill Commonwealth concession cardholders and some offer a reduced fee for cardholders.

If the doctor does not bulk bill, Medicare refunds 100% of the scheduled fee (that is, the rate as set by the Government as a fair price for the service). Doctors may charge more than the schedule fee and there is no additional Medicare rebate for this.

Additional financial assistance is available for people with high medical expenses.

Some services provided by optometrists, such as eye tests, are included in Medicare and most optometrists bulk bill. However, Medicare rebates are not available for services provided by dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, psychologists and naturopaths.

Some community health centres funded by the Victorian Government provide a range of health services including dental, chiropractic, podiatry and physiotherapy services for concession cardholders and low-income earners either for free or at a reduced cost.

For further information about Medicare or doctors fees contact the Medicare Information Line on 13 2011.

Hospital Treatment

All permanent Australian residents and some visitors are entitled to free treatment in public hospitals as public patients. This means that they:

• Cannot choose their own doctor
• May have to wait for non-emergency treatment. In some cases, public patients may be charged.
  
  These include:
  
• Long-stay patients who no longer need active medical care. People who stay in hospital more than 35 days and need mainly nursing care may have to pay part of their costs
• Some outpatient care services are covered by a means test or have fees similar to those applying in the community generally. These services include dental services, optical services, prescription medication and some surgical and medical aids.

People who choose to be private patients in a private or public hospital can claim a Medicare refund of 75% of the scheduled fee payable for medical services for in-patient services received. Medicare does not cover the cost of food, accommodation or theatre fees in these situations.

Private health insurance covers part of the cost of hospital accommodation and related charges for private patients.

Medicare Safety Net

The new Medicare Safety Net, announced in 2004, is a component of a range of initiatives introduced by the Australian Government to strengthen Medicare. The Medicare Safety Net is designed to help individuals and families with medical costs, once the safety net threshold is reached.

The Medicare Safety Net covers a range of doctor visits and tests received out of hospital. Some examples of services that count towards the safety net are GP and specialist consultations, ultrasounds, x-rays and blood tests.

There are three thresholds to help protect people. Each threshold is calculated differently and depends on personal circumstances. The type and frequency of the medical expenses determine how soon a person will reach a threshold.

Details of the thresholds are available by contacting Medicare on 132 011 or visiting the Health Insurance Commission website at www.hic.gov.au (external link)

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) allows holders of Commonwealth Government cards to purchase prescription medicines for $4.70, except where a special brand price applies.

Some medications are not included in the PBS. People without a concession card should pay no more than $29.50 for subsidised medicines, depending on the price and brand of the medicine.

The government only subsidies the cheapest brand of each medication. If the doctor prescribes a more expensive brand, the cost of the medication may be more than $4.70 for concession cardholders or $29.50 for non-concession cardholders.

A safety net applies for people and families with large pharmaceutical costs.

For concession cardholders, the safety net is $253.80 each calendar year. Once this amount is exceeded, any further PBS medicines are provided free of charge.

For people and families without a concession card, the safety net is $960.10 each calendar year, after which any further PBS medicines they require are available at a cost of $4.70 for items where the cheapest brand is prescribed.

For further information, contact the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Information Line on 13 2290.