Fees & Payment

The fees charged by this practice are guided by the Australian Medical Association (AMA). The AMA schedule is based on the Medicare fee (since 1984) with inflation and average weekly earnings (AWE) applied. The Medicare rebate (and health fund fee schedules) have not kept up with inflation and AWE for many years. This has resulted in a ‘gap’ between the AMA fee and Medicare rebate. In most cases the gap payment is not covered by Medicare or your private health fund.

Treatment carried out in a public hospital usually does not incur any fees. However, treatment undertaken in a private hospital will most often result in several accounts being generated. This can be quite confusing due to the large variety of health fund policies and the involvement of many different health care providers. There are several sources of fees that may be charged due to your surgery:

1. Surgeon’s fee: this is based on the AMA schedule and generally involves a gap payment
   
   
2. Assistant surgeon’s fee: usually 20% of the surgeon’s fee
   
   
3. Anaesthetist’s fee: this is calculated on several factors (e.g. time, medical complexity) and thus is an estimate only
   
   
4. Health fund excess: if applicable, this is usually paid once a calendar year
   
   
5. Other health fund costs: depending on your fund, there may be other charges for ancillary services such as (but not limited to) radiology, physiotherapy – please check with your health fund for more information 
   
   
6. Other unexpected fees: occasionally it may be necessary for unforeseen emergency treatment by other health professionals and this may incur an additional cost

If surgery is recommended, Dr Chia will provide you with a written estimate to minimise any unforeseen costs. Please do not hesitate to contact the office if you have any queries regarding your account.