Greedy doctors like bad bankers

THE boss of Australia’s biggest health fund has compared medical specialists charging super-sized fees to bad bankers and says they should be hounded out of the profession.

The call comes as frustration builds in the private health insurance industry over delays in government action after a major investigation into medical gap fees carried out by the Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy.

Health funds have evidence of massive out-of-pocket fees of over $20,000 for deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease and $10,000 for hip and knee replacements that are not covered by Medicare or health funds.

Some doctors are charging cancer patients gap fees of $12,000 for breast reconstructions or over $10,000 for robotic prostatectomies.

Bupa managing director Dwayne Crombie said medical specialists imposing such fees risk losing community respect in the same way as disgraced bankers did through the Royal Commission.

If they wanted to maintain their standing medical colleges must move to define what they consider unacceptable fees and ban doctors who charge above this amount, he said.

“They should fix the people who charge outrageously and kick them out,” Mr Crombie said. “Potentially they could revoke their right to get Medicare and private health insurance benefits.”

The president of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons Dr John Batten has also attacked the charging practices of some of his colleagues as “immoral” and “unethical” and warned it could see patients abandon the private health system altogether.

Already there is evidence that privately insured pregnant women are refusing to pay exorbitant pregnancy management fees of $13,000 and are using the public system in- stead. The proportion of women using public hospitals to give birth is rising.

Dr Batten said his college is an educational body and can’t dictate what doctors can charge and blamed the actions of successive governments in freezing Medicare rebates and health funds following suit for growing medical gap fees.

A survey of 6000 health fund members conducted for the government has found 44 per cent of health fund members face gap payments not covered by Medicare or their health fund.

The Chief Medical Officer’s report on the issue was handed to Health Minister Greg Hunt last year.

POTENTIALLY THEY COULD REVOKE THEIR RIGHT TO GET MEDICARE AND PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS DWAYNE CROMBIE