Are You Eligible for Help with Travel Costs to Hospital Appointments?
|
If you're referred to hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests by your doctor, dentist or another primary care health professional, you may be able to claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).
To qualify for help with travel costs under the HTCS, you must meet 3 conditions:-
- 1. Receive a Qualifying Benefit or Allowance
- o At the time of your appointment, you or your partner (including civil partners) must receive one of the qualifying benefits or allowances listed on this page, or meet the eligibility criteria for the [NHS Low Income Scheme]
- 2. You Must be Referred
- o You must have a referral from a healthcare professional to a specialist or a hospital for further NHS treatment or tests (often referred to as secondary care).
- 3. The Appointment you are Claiming for Must be Different to the Appointment where you Received your Referral
- o Your appointment must be on a separate visit to when the referral was made. This applies whether your treatment is provided at a different location (hospital or clinic) or on the same premises as where your GP or another health professional issued the referral.
You can claim travel costs for your children if you're eligible for any of the benefits and conditions described (above and below).
If your child is aged 16 or over, they can make their own claim under the [Low Income Scheme].
Eligibility
You can claim help with travel costs if you or your partner (including civil partner) receive any of the following benefits:-
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Working Tax Credit (WTC) with Child Tax Credit (CTC)
- WTC with a disability element or a severe disability element
- CTC but you're not eligible for WTC
- Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
You can also claim for help with travel costs if:-
- You are named on, or entitled to, an NHS tax credit exemption certificate
- you have a low income and are named on certificate HC2 (full help) or HC3 (limited help)
Patients who are not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, but are on a low income, and whose savings are less than £16,000 (or £23,500 if in a care home) may also be eligible for assistance with their NHS travel expenses.
If you are eligible to claim help with travel costs to hospital appointments, you will need to pay your travel costs then you need to complete a HC5(T) refund claim form, to claim your travel costs. You can download a copy of the refund claim form [HERE], or you can open this PDF on our website.
Full information, including telephone numbers for queries can be found [HERE].
|
|
