Consultation Fees
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Initial Consultation |
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| Private $200.00 | Medicare Rebate $72.75 |
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Review Consultation |
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| Private $100.00 | Medicare Rebate $36.55 |
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Telehealth |
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Consultations conducted via Telehealth are bulk billed
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Nurse Consultation
Nursing Education $60.00 - $100.00 . No refund from Medicare.
Payment
Payment is expected at the time of your consultation
Payment is accepted by, cash, cheque, credit card or EFTPOS
Explanation Fees and charges
Medicare
We do not bulk bill.
Patients pay for their treatment and receive a rebate from Medicare.
Medicare is a subsidy to private health care costs and there has been a government freeze on the rebates of this subsidy since 2013, whilst the costs of running a practice have increased during this period.
The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) lists the services the Australian Government will provide a Medicare rebate for. Medicare rebates do not cover the full cost of medical services and are typically paid as a percentage of the Medicare schedule fee. There is often a gap between what patients pay for services and the amount that Medicare reimburses. This gap is known as an out-of-pocket expense, as the patient is required to make up the difference out of his or her own pocket.
Healthcare funds (Health Insurance companies)
Their rebates to patients are linked to Medicare rebates not to the cost of providing a service.
Healthcare funds decide independently how much they will rebate patients for surgical procedures.
The fee charged by West Coast Urology for surgical procedures is fixed for each procedure, however the amount that your Healthcare fund will rebate you for that procedure varies from fund to fund and table to table within funds.
If your Healthcare fund decides not to rebate you the full cost of your surgical procedure (as is their right), you will be left with 'gap payment' also known as an "out of pocket expense" - you will need to make up this difference. The size of this 'gap payment' depends on the Healthcare fund, not your doctor. See below an example of 2 patients undergoing exactly the same procedure with 2 different health funds
- Eg. X procedure. Health fund A
- Specialist Charge = $1000
- Rebate from Health fund A = $900
- Gap payment (out of pocket expense) to patient = $100
- Eg. X procedure. Health fund B
- Specialist Charge = $1000
- Rebate from Health fund B = $400
- Gap payment (out of pocket expense) to patient = $600
Healthcare funds have many rules and clauses regarding rebates for procedures, some of which change from time to time and often without consultation or informing West Coast Urology of these changes. As such for clarification it is always best to contact your Healthcare fund for further information.