Aussies being ripped off by overcharging medical specialists

A new report has claimed that many Australians are being ripped off by medical specialists who are drastically overcharging for their services.

The findings were revealed on ABC’s Four Corners and showed that Aussies are being left thousands of dollars out of pocket due to extortionate charges, despite forking out for private healthcare insurance. 

Four Corners’ looked into the medical bills of more than 700 patients for out-of-pocket costs and discovered that patients were being charged illegal hidden fees and that specialists were charging “whatever they like” for procedures.

The program exposed a “sick system” under which many people don’t find out about the final out-of-pocket costs of surgeons, anaesthetists, pathologists and radiologists until months after their treatment.

And some patients had been left thousands of dollars out of pocket for vital medical procedures despite having private health cover and being under the impression that it, along with Medicare, would cover the costs.

Dr Norman Swan said: “Out of pocket expenses have become a major issue and are undermining people’s confidence in private health insurance and in private healthcare itself.”

Madonna Buiter was almost $16,000 out of pocket after having surgery for breast cancer. #4Corners #MindtheGap pic.twitter.com/HhY6VqTc6O

— Four Corners (@4corners) May 28, 2018

The show told the story of John Dunn who, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, was left with an eye-watering bill for $18,000 after being recommended for robotic surgery – despite being told the cost of the procedure was “competitive”.

Despite being covered by his own insurance, Dunn only received around $4000 of the total costs and was left to pick up the bill for the rest.

He said: “My comment to him was would I have to mortgage the house to have this surgery. And his answer was ‘no it’s competitive to other cities’. $16,000 was the figure. I was a bit gobsmacked but I think I was thinking at the time ‘Oh well, I’m in health fund, I’ve got medicare’.”

Most people are quick to blame their insurance companies for not providing the right cover, however Dr Stephen Duckett said that fault doesn’t lie with them. Instead he pointed the finger at individual surgeons and specialists who charge excessively.

The Director of Health, at the Grattan Institute, said: “It’s quite unfair to blame private health insurance for not covering all the outrageous bills that doctors submit.

“The doctors are able to charge whatever they like. It’s almost impossible for an insurance company to set a premium that covers whatever the doctor charges.

“And those fees may be an order of magnitude above what the schedule fee is, what the government has said is a fair rate for this procedure.”

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) president John Batten told Four Corners that patients tended to blame problems on private health insurers.

He told news.com.au: “We have a few surgeons we feel are extorting the public by raising fees and having booking charges which are illegal. We as a professional body need to remediate our members who feel they are entitled to charge fees that are silly. 

“The big thing that would improve this is transparency of fees. That’s what we support and want to see. It would expose those charging ridiculous fees. And give patients the confidence to question it.

“It would expose the small number of surgeons involved. And it is a small percentage 95 per cent of our surgeons charge under AMA rates.”

What do you think? Have you been left out of pocket by unexpected medical fees?