Can anyone help me with an indication of the fees they charge? Im trying to work out what they charge and how much medicare will pay and what debt I will be left with after the medicare scheduled fee (my gap).

For a c-sec

hi,

not sure if i'm much help but when i had my 3rd c/s 5 yrs ago my bill was about $700.

my health fund covered it from memory

good luck

Hi Cat,
Two years ago my anethestist charged about $1000 for an epidural (extra because it was a public holiday - just my luck!), but I did get a good chunk of that back between my health fund and medicare. I was over the medicare safety net by that stage too, thus got most of it back. I can't recall the exact amount but I wasn't out of pocket anymore than $200. At the time I would have paid her double, and remember promising to send her a bottle of very good red... until I saw the bill :-) You could always ring a few specialists and ask their receptionists for their fees, your doctor should be able to give you some names. If you ask them for the item number as well and call Medicare they'll be able to tell you what the rebate is. Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Shelley

Hi Cat,

In most instances it depends on the doctor and the time of day ie are you getting someone into the hospital that is not already there!

I am a scrouge so when my baby was born I waited in pain until 8am when the normal shift started, I could have had the registrar for free prior to this or paid $1000 for the on call doctor - no offence to any new doctors I am sure you are capable but only someone with lots of experience is sticking something into my spine during contractions My out of pocket fee was $11 the best money I have ever spent!

A friend had to use the on call doctor in the middle of the night and her out of pocket fee was the full $1000.

You have to by law be given a full schedule of fees before any of the charges are applied (in an emergency it is different obviously). I was given all the information re cost many weeks before admission and again on admission. Your health fund can let you know the expected out of pocket costs and make you aware of any doctors who do not participate in the "no gap" agreement.

Hopefully things will progress as planned for you and you will experience no further complications and the c/section can occur on the day and time planned - this will always be in business hours hence cheaper.

Good luck

Hi
Not sure if I'll be much help either because I can't remember exact figures, but when I had a c-section about 15months ago my bill was around $800, of which I had to pay $200. I thought it was worth it since the anethetist did such a great job.
Good luck.

Hi

I just had a csection on the 1st April (it was a planned c-section, so during normal "business hours"). The Anaesthetist charged $1295. Out of this, our gap amount was $395 the rest was covered by Medicare and our private health fund. I don't know what amount Medicare covered and what amount the private health fund covered as the anaesthetist took care of claiming those amounts and we just paid the $395.

Like key4 said, I was given an estimate of the cost before the csection so I knew what it was going to cost. Perhaps you can find out who your anaesthetist will be and give them a call?

All the best for the birth of your baby.

My little girl is 9wks old and I had a c/s with a spinal block.....so heres some really recent figures.

Pre op Consult - $128.00
Anaesthesia for c/s - $768.00
Intratehcal or Epidural Injection - $320.00
Time 4:30pm - 5:36pm (66mins) - $320.00

Total - $1536.00

I got a $460.80 discount because I paid within a wk of getting my bill....some drs do this, but not everyone. So my bill ended up only being $1075.20.

My private health covered $400 or so and Medicare covered just over $300 so I was out of pocket about $300.

If your going private you should be able to find out your anaesthetist name from your OB and then call to get a quote.....that way you can ring your health insurance/medicare and find out what you'll be out of pocket.

Good Luck

Sherri xxx