Mind the gap by comparing the costs of doctors
UNKNOWN out-of-pocket medical costs is one of the biggest stresses for people who are undergoing procedures and treatments.
Private health insurance costs climb annually – on April 1 they will increase by an average of 2.92 per cent – putting further pressure on household budgets.
But to minimise bill shock for those who require specialist medical services, the Federal Government has rolled out its new Medical Cost Finder to help Australians understand their individual medical expenses.
It allows users to search outof-pocket costs across more than 60 common in-hospital treatments and procedures for private patients including IVF, joint reconstructions and weight-loss surgery.
Bupa head of medical benefits Andrew Ashcroft said having a tough conversation with a medical practitioner about the costs they charge could be intimidating.
“A lot of people are too scared to send back a steak in a restaurant, so they are unlikely to want to have a difficult conversation with a surgeon,” he said.
“Some customers are surprised about their out-ofpocket fees when they go and have an operation and that’s really upsetting when you are having a procedure. You have enough on your plate.”
The government’s new tool explains the specialist fees and out-of-pocket costs for procedures that are categorised into low, medium and high brackets depending on the location.
It asks the user questions including whether they have private health insurance, what procedure they are having done and their location.
The costs are based on the most recent publicly available Government data on what people paid for procedures.
Mr Ashcroft said a main issue with health costs was “there’s no real transparency about what’s the average”. “The tool gives people a little more power and control,” he said.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said it “will help reduce bill shock and encourage people to talk about potential costs when seeking specialist referrals, appointments and treatments”.
Medibank chief medical officer Dr Linda Swan said “different specialists can charge very different prices for the same procedure”.
“Often the reason why doctors charge differently in different areas is more to do with location, patient load or a whole lot of factors,” she said.
“There is a variety of prices you may pay so it’s completely sensible and reasonable to ask for a couple of different quotes for how much it will cost to have a procedure done.”
To visit the site, go to the Australian Government Department of Health website and search Medical Costs Finder.
‘A lot of people are too scared to send back a steak in a restaurant, so they are unlikely to want to have a difficult conversation with a surgeon’
Bupa’s Andrew Ashcroft