Thousands of South Australians living in rural and regional areas will get significantly more financial support to travel to specialist health appointments.
In the first major increase to the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme (PATS) in more than 20 years, the State Government is doubling the fuel subsidy from 16c per kilometre to 32c per kilometre for eligible medical appointments.
PATS provides financial assistance towards transport and accommodation costs for people who need to travel more than 100km each way to attend planned specialist healthcare services that are not available locally.
Last year more than 13,000 South Australians received financial support through PATS.
The PATS subsidy is funded by the South Australian Government and operated by the Rural Support Service (RSS) on behalf of SA Health’s six regional Local Health Networks.
People living in remote areas are encouraged to check their eligibility and apply for subsidies by submitting a claim on the PATS website.
Paper forms are also available online or at GP clinics.
PATS also has five offices located in regional SA Hospitals including Mount Gambier, Berri, Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Lincoln.
