The WA Government could be forced to pay more than $55,000 in refunds to senior citizens who have been charged $280 for a free medical assessment.

Last week the ABC revealed pensioners in some WA towns had paid up to $280 to renew their drivers licences in areas without a private GP service.

Drivers aged 80 and above must undergo the annual medical checks in order to retain their right to drive, but the test would be normally bulk-billed by a GP.

Last week, WA Health Minister Roger Cook said the $280 fee was because a driving licence renewal was classed as "non-essential medical care and therefore [was] not covered by Medicare at a hospital".

But the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) this week said the service should be free for pensioners, and it was investigating up to 206 cases where people had been incorrectly charged $280 for the assessment.

Audit underway

A spokeswoman said while a licence assessment for commercial or other purposes cost $280, if the assessment was for a health or age-related reason, and the patient was eligible for Medicare, they should not be charged.

"There are some isolated cases where sites in the Kimberley have been charging the standard outpatient charge for all drivers licence assessments for a number of years," the spokeswoman said.

"At this point, we understand there are a maximum of 206 tests across the Kimberley which have been charged in this way."

The spokeswoman said WACHS was undertaking an audit of the charges at these sites.

"Any patient who has been incorrectly charged for the health or age-related private driver's license renewal assessment will receive a full refund for any tests paid for," she said.

If each of the 206 cases were overcharged $280, the refunds would total $57,680.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook says WACHS is conducting an audit to ensure anyone who was incorrectly charged is refunded. ( ABC News )

In a statement, Mr Cook said he was initially given the wrong information regarding the standard fee for senior driver medical assessments at public hospitals.

"The WA Country Health Service have corrected the information originally provided to my office regarding medical assessments for driving licences at public hospitals," he said.

"The WA Country Health Service are conducting an urgent audit to identify patients eligible for a refund.

"[WACHS] have assured me this charging error is limited to the Kimberley and does not affect any other region."

Pensioner 'dumbfounded'

Beryl Ah Chee, 81, was recently charged $280 for the assessment which she said took about 10 minutes at Derby Hospital.

The Derby resident said she was relieved to hear she could now be refunded.

"I thought $280 was absolutely ridiculous from a pensioner's point of view, well from anyone's point of view," she said.

Ms Ah Chee said she was shocked to learn how many people could have been overcharged.

"I am absolutely dumfounded because I thought there wouldn't be many of us," she said.

"Because I live out of town and the time is coming where [my husband] won't be able to drive, my licence is very important to me.

"It is my life, virtually," she said.

Derby is one of the locations where people were charged $280 to renew their licences. ( ABC Kimberley: Ben Collins )

Liberal MLC Ken Baston said he was relieved to see people would be refunded.

"I am relieved to hear that after a week of scrutiny, the Minister for Health has ordered a stop to charging people $280 the senior driver's license renewal assessment in Derby, a town with no private medical practice," he said.

"It is good see common sense prevail in this situation.

"Which was extremely unfair to people living in remote locations who already go without many services readily available in the metropolitan area."