BATHURST is racking up quite a debt with the Ambulance Service of NSW, with more than $150,000 owing in unpaid ambulance trips in just the past six months.
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Of the thousands of emergency call outs that Bathurst paramedics attended from July to December last year, 282 people were yet to pay their bill, data from Revenue NSW reveals.
The $150,818.94 owed by people in Bathurst has now been referred on to government debt collectors.
A Revenue NSW spokeswoman said this debt was in addition to the $85,197.50 owed from 2016-17 where 257 people were yet to pay their bill.
- Read more: Ambulance Service of NSW frees and charges
And, $20,303.09 from 2015-16 where 71 ambulance trips still have not been paid.
All up, Bathurst residents owe $256,319 from the past three years, which includes enforcement costs of $92,365.
By comparison, Orange patients racked up a debt of $310,029 over the past three years, while in Dubbo $398,351 remains outstanding.
“Civil sanctions will be imposed if an unpaid ambulance fee notice remains unpaid or unfinalised,” the spokeswoman said.
“For each civil sanction imposed, an enforcement cost of $65 is added to the fee.”
Civil sanctions will be imposed if an unpaid ambulance fee notice remains unpaid or unfinalised.
- Revenue NSW spokeswoman
In NSW, the average ambulance trip costs about $400, which is based on a $372 call out fee plus $3.35 for each kilometre driven.
The cost of an ambulance trip can be covered through private health insurance or ambulance-only cover.
Pensioners, healthcare card holders and veterans are among those who are exempt from paying the fee.
The maximum cost payable for a trip with NSW ambulances via road, fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter following is $6095.