Fees

• Over time costs increase, inflation marches on, and the rebates from medicare and insurers do not.

  • As a guide Medicare pays ~$20 per ‘unit*’

  • Your insurer pays between ~$10-19 per unit, in addition to the Medicare fee

  • The AMA reccomended fee which the ASA recognises as a fair price is ~$94 per unit (2023)

    • The difference in AMA reccomended fees and non-gap renumeration (MBS+Private insurer) is >$50 a unit, the largest spread of any specialty

      • This may reflect the relative nascence of anaesthesia as a specialty field, and its difficulty in negotiating with Medicare and the insurers early on.

  • The medicare rebate has remained frozen since 2012

    • As a result I charge a gap depending on the rebate of the insurers, this is because they pay me markedly different rates for the same procedure and all much less than what the service is worth.

    • Ethical informed consent means that you will be advised of any gap prior to the procedure, and this will be it, even if the procedure takes overlong.

  This may seem like too much information and nobody likes to talk about money, however it is better out in the open than left unsaid.

  (*Unitary fees are based on the Relative Value Guide [the RVG])