Anaesthetic fees are separate to those charged by the Surgeon and the Hospital. Each anaesthetist is an independent practitioner and set their own fees, independent of other health professionals.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA) prepare a list of medical services and fees for private patient anaesthesia services, and index this each year. Most anaesthetists base their charges on this indexed list of services.
At Canterbury Anaesthetics, most of our Members fees are well below the limits as recommended by the AMA and the ASA.
Patients with a Medicare card and/or private health insurance may be eligible to claim benefits for the services rendered.
The benefits you receive from Medicare are based on a schedule of fees (also known as the Medicare Benefits Schedule) for medical services set by the Australian Government. The MBS lists a wide range of anaesthetic item numbers, and the Schedule Fee for each of these items.
The Schedule Fee is the amount the Government considers appropriate for one of these services.
For services provided in a private hospital, Medicare will rebate 75% of the Schedule fee. Your health fund will rebate the further 25%. Almost all private practitioners charge above the Schedule fee, so you will often have to pay a gap payment or an out-of-pocket fee.
Your out-of-pocket fee may vary according to the following criteria:
The health fund you are in
The type of health fund you are in, together with the level of cover you have, may have a significant impact on how much your out-of-pocket fee will be (see below for further information).
Type of procedure
Your anaesthetic fee will largely be determined by the length and the complexity of the procedure you are having. Additional fees may apply for patients who are more complex, more frail, or for whom the operation is performed as an emergency or ‘out of hours.’
Pensioner or DVA benefits
Patients with a pension card may have a reduced out-of-pocket fee or be entitled to a no gap payment for their anaesthetic. All DVA patients will have no gap payments.
Payment of your fees
Some accounts will need to be settled in advance of your procedure date. These accounts relate to the following:
- Bariatric and dental procedures
- Some robotically assisted procedures
- Patients who do not have private health cover, also known as uninsured or self-funding
- Patients who have overseas or visitors cover
- Individually specified by the anaesthetist
For all other accounts, these will be sent to you after your procedure. If you have received an invoice with a link for online payment, click here, or click on the “Pay Invoice” button on the main website.
We accept payment via BPay, credit card, cheque, money order or cash payment to our rooms.