Ex-health chief calls for urgent surgery on huge doctors’ bills

AUSTRALIANS are being forced to surrender their retirement nest eggs to cover massive medical bills.

The situation is so dire that the former head of the Health Department says it’s now time doctors were forced to publish their charges. Professor Stephen Duckett went further to say that medicos should get no money from Medicare if their bill is more than twice the Medicare rebate.

Surgeons’ complication rates and unplanned readmissions rates should also be made public so patients can check whether their performance matches the fees they charge, Professor Duckett said.

Health funds and highcharging health professionals are under the microscope in a Senate inquiry as official data shows health funds profits soared to over $1.4 billion in the 12 months to June.

Government figures show health fund membership con- tinuing to slide after premium rises more than three times the inflation rate in April.

And Medibank has released data showing some prostate cancer surgeons slugged their patients over $10,000 in out of pocket expenses.

This compares with one in five prostate cancer surgeons who charge no gaps and whose patients have their entire bill covered by Medicare and private health insurance.

Variations in surgeons’ fees are so great it could be cheaper for patients in Sydney to pay for a plane trip and have their surgery in another state.

The average out-of-pocket expense for a hip replacement in NSW is $2673 compared with just $556 in South Australia and $1997 in Victoria.

The Royal Australian College of Surgeons has not been able to explain the discrepancy in costs.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Michael Gannon says he has no intention of defending “egregious fee setting by some doctors”.