WA Life Support Subsidy — Heart Pump (LVAD) $465/year

What Is This Payment?

The Life Support Equipment Energy Subsidy is a WA Department of Finance scheme administered through wa.gov.au Concessions. It pays a fixed annual electricity-bill credit per qualifying device. Heart pump in this scheme almost always means a long-term implanted ventricular assist device (LVAD, RVAD, or BiVAD) that the patient lives with at home. Total artificial heart and short-term hospital-only mechanical circulatory support are funded under hospital tertiary care budgets and do not appear here.

WA's LVAD population is small (typically 30-60 patients statewide at any time, mostly followed at Fiona Stanley Hospital) but growing as destination therapy becomes more common for patients ineligible for transplant. The HeartMate 3 controller draws roughly 5-7 watts at rest. The peripherals — system management box, mobile power unit (MPU), patient battery charger holding 4-6 14V Li-ion batteries — together draw 60-90 watts whenever batteries are recharging, which is most of every day because patient batteries deplete in 8-17 hours of wear and need to cycle. Annual continuous draw lands close to 600-800 kWh, which at Synergy A1 tariffs of around 32 c/kWh is roughly $190-$260; the management of charging cycles and the redundancy that LVAD households need (multiple chargers, backup batteries) push real-world annual cost higher.

The $465 rebate was set to acknowledge that LVAD households also typically run higher overall power use because severe heart failure and post-LVAD recovery often means more time at home, more cooling and heating of the home, and additional medical equipment (BiPAP for sleep, oxygen concentrator for some, monitoring equipment). Eligibility scope is household over financial_year; one rebate per electricity account.

How Much Can You Get?

The fixed rebate is $465 per financial year, paid as bill credits over four quarters of approximately $116 each. Compared with siblings: Feeding Pump $176, Peritoneal Dialysis $109, Ventilator VPAP/BPAP $516, Oxygen Concentrator (adult standard) $984, Oxygen Concentrator (adult high capacity) $1,421, Oxygen Concentrator (child) $1,476. Heart Pump sits in the upper-middle band — higher than the small motorised devices, lower than the high-flow oxygen concentrators that draw 600-1,000 watts continuously.

• $465/yr fixed: not means-tested, not adjusted for the specific LVAD model or hours of charging.
• Quarterly delivery: ~$116 per Synergy/Horizon bill, automatic once approved.
• Per household, not per person: a household with two LVAD patients (extraordinarily rare) still receives one rebate.
• Backdating: to the start of the FY of approval. Mid-year applications get a partial first quarter pro-rated to remaining bill cycles.
• Realistic offset ratio: covers approximately 50-65% of the actual marginal electricity cost of running an LVAD home setup; the remainder is part of household running costs.

The amount is published in the WA Department of Finance Concessions schedule and reviewed annually. The 2025-26 figure of $465 has been stable since FY2023-24. The next scheduled review is at the May WA Budget; current YAML shows $465.

Eligibility Conditions

The eligibility block is an all set with four gates.

1. WA residency: state = WA. Tested by the service address on the electricity bill. LVAD patients on temporary out-of-state stays for transplant work-up at St Vincent's Sydney still qualify provided their primary domicile is WA.
2. Concession card: concession_card_type ∈ {pensioner_concession_card, health_care_card, health_care_card_interim_voucher}. Many LVAD patients hold a PCC via Disability Support Pension on cardiac grounds. DVA Gold Card alone does not satisfy this rebate even though it covers most clinical care; the patient should also hold or apply for a HCC.
3. Equipment type: life_support_equipment_type = heart_pump. The form's dropdown maps "heart pump" to LVAD, RVAD, BiVAD, or implantable mechanical circulatory support generally. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators (ICDs) are battery-implanted devices that do not draw mains power and therefore do not qualify.
4. Specialist authorisation: specialist_medical_authorisation = true. Must be a cardiologist or cardiothoracic surgeon. The Fiona Stanley Advanced Heart Failure team typically provides this letter as part of their standard discharge paperwork.

The excludes.any block is empty. The conflicts list contains the other ten Life Support product codes, meaning only one device can be claimed per application; in practice an LVAD patient who also runs a CPAP for sleep apnoea picks the higher-value device (heart pump $465 over CPAP $176) and runs one application, because the household account receives one rebate at a time. A separate household resident with an unrelated condition (e.g. an adult son living at home using oxygen concentrator) can claim independently on the same address only if they are a separate concession-card holder and a co-named account holder — split-account scenarios.

Required fields recorded in the rule: state, concession_card_type, life_support_equipment_type, specialist_medical_authorisation. The application form additionally collects retailer and account number for delivery, but those are not part of the YAML eligibility logic.

How To Apply

Channel set: online (preferred) or mail. The wa.gov.au form is the official path.

1. Get the cardiology certificate. The Fiona Stanley Hospital Advanced Heart Failure team is the most common source. Ask for a letter on hospital letterhead naming the device (e.g. "HeartMate 3 LVAD, implanted on [date], operated continuously from home mains power and battery system"). The letter does not need to specify hours of use because the device runs 24/7 by definition.
2. Photograph the concession card. Both sides if relevant. PCC holders attach the front-back image; HCC interim voucher holders photograph the entire Centrelink letter.
3. Pull a recent Synergy or Horizon bill. Account in the patient's name (or co-named with a partner), service address matching the discharge address.
4. Lodge online at wa.gov.au. Approval typically lands within 4-6 weeks. The first credit appears on the next quarterly bill. Backdating goes to the start of the financial year of approval, not to the implantation date.
5. Renewal. Continues automatically each FY while the card and the medical condition persist. If the patient receives a transplant and the LVAD is explanted, notify the Concessions team and Fiona Stanley discharge office; the rebate stops cleanly without recovery action provided notification is timely.

Evidence list: concession card or HCC interim voucher; specialist medical certificate; electricity bill. Keep the cardiology letter on file because it is also useful for Air Conditioning Rebate (separate application) and for the federal Carer Allowance pathway if the patient has a qualifying co-resident carer.

Open the official wa.gov.au Life Support Subsidy form

Real-life Scenarios

Scenario 1: Hassan in Cockburn, HeartMate 3 destination therapy

Hassan is 67, lives in Cockburn with his wife, and was implanted with a HeartMate 3 LVAD as destination therapy at Fiona Stanley Hospital eight months ago. He holds a Pensioner Concession Card via Age Pension. His Advanced Heart Failure team supplied the discharge letter on hospital letterhead naming the device. He is co-named on the Synergy account with his wife. He lodges the wa.gov.au form a week after discharge with all three documents; approval lands in 5 weeks. The first $116 credit appears on the September quarterly bill. Stacked with the Air Conditioning Rebate of $326/yr (severe heart failure qualifies under the medical conditions list), the household receives $791/yr in life-support-related electricity rebates, plus the seasonal Energy Assistance Payment.

Scenario 2: Yasmin in Rockingham, bridge-to-transplant, transplant arrives

Yasmin is 54, lives in Rockingham, and was implanted with a HeartWare HVAD as bridge-to-transplant 14 months ago. She received the rebate for one full FY ($465) plus a partial second FY of $232 (two quarters at $116) before her donor heart became available. She receives the transplant at St Vincent's Sydney through the inter-state national heart transplant pathway. Three weeks post-explant, her cardiologist signs a letter confirming the LVAD is no longer in use. Yasmin notifies the Concessions team via the wa.gov.au online enquiry form; the rebate stops cleanly on the next billing cycle. Total realised value during her LVAD journey: $697, which approximately matched the marginal electricity cost of running the system at home.

Scenario 3: Omar in Albany, regional LVAD, Horizon Power

Omar is 62, lives in Albany (Horizon Power territory), and has had a HeartMate 3 LVAD for two years post-implantation at Fiona Stanley. He holds a PCC. The wa.gov.au form is identical for Horizon and Synergy customers; he lodges from Albany with the same documents and approval lands in 5 weeks. The $116 quarterly credits appear on his Horizon bill. Because Albany has cooler winters and a more variable power-supply pattern than Perth, Omar invested in a small home battery (separate to the LVAD batteries) for an additional safety buffer during outages — that is a household choice, not part of the rebate, but it materially reduces his risk during the rare regional outage events. The rebate plays its role: $465/yr offsetting the marginal LVAD running cost.

Common Mistakes

• Cardiology letter without naming the LVAD device: a generic "patient has severe heart failure" letter is not enough. The form needs the specialist letter to identify the implanted device by class (LVAD, RVAD, BiVAD) or model. The Fiona Stanley team will write this on request — it is not a test, it is a paperwork requirement.
• Treating ICD or pacemaker as a heart pump: implantable cardioverter defibrillators and pacemakers run from internal batteries that are surgically replaced every 5-10 years. They do not draw mains electricity and the WA Life Support scheme does not cover them. Patients who have a pacemaker but no LVAD do not qualify under this rule.
• DVA Gold Card alone: DVA Gold covers virtually all clinical care for the patient but does not unlock this state-level energy rebate, which gates strictly on PCC, HCC, or HCC interim voucher. A DVA Gold Card holder typically also qualifies for HCC on income grounds — apply for HCC at Centrelink first, then use the HCC photo on the wa.gov.au form.
• Bill in a relative-carer's name only: the rebate must reach the patient via their electricity account. If the patient lives with a son or daughter who pays the bill, either the patient should be added as joint account holder, or the relative carer can apply on the patient's behalf using the patient's card and the carer's bill (the assessor allows this for live-in carers, but needs the relationship documented in the application notes).
• Assuming the rebate stacks with NDIS or DVA equipment funding: NDIS funds clinical equipment and consumables, DVA funds clinical care. Neither pays state energy concessions. This rebate is purely a state Concessions stream. The "stacking" applies to other state energy concessions (Air Con Rebate, EAP, HUGS, Dependent Child Rebate), not to clinical equipment funding.
• Forgetting the rebate after explant or device exchange: if the patient receives a transplant or the device is permanently explanted (rare cardiac recovery cases), notify the Concessions team within 30 days. The rebate continues automatically until notified; silent continuation is recoverable as a debt during audit. Notification is straightforward via the wa.gov.au enquiry form.

Related Benefits

• WA Air Conditioning Rebate ($326/yr) — most LVAD patients qualify under the severe heart failure medical-conditions list; the cardiology letter doubles as evidence.
• WA Life Support Subsidy — Ventilator VPAP/BPAP ($516/yr) — sibling product code; only one Life Support claim at a time per account, so households pick the higher-value device.
• WA Life Support Subsidy — Oxygen Concentrator adult standard ($984/yr) — the most-claimed Life Support product across WA; LVAD patients with secondary pulmonary hypertension sometimes also use oxygen.
• WA Energy Assistance Payment — annual seasonal credit on the same Synergy or Horizon account; same card list.
• WA Hardship Utility Grant Scheme (HUGS) — one-off grant of up to $573 per FY for households facing disconnection; LVAD patients who fall behind on bills can use HUGS.
• Federal Carer Allowance — fortnightly payment ($153.50) to a co-resident carer of an adult with a severe condition; many LVAD households qualify.

Frequently Asked Questions