Anaesthetist cost?

[judabellah]

Hi,

I am having my bub at the Mater Private in Brisbane, Jo Cheung is my OB.

I am trying to put together a budget and I had forgotten about these costs.... I have top level cover with MBF:-

What is the approx cost for an anaesthetist? I am hoping for a VBAC, but will probably want an epidural I'd say (!) There is also the chance I may need a C/S...

Oh, and what about the Paediatician?

I don't have an excess to pay at the hospital, but do I need to pay any other costs for the birth itself, other than my management fee?

I have read that people have even been charged for their blood tests... why aren't these bulk billed as per normal?

My safety net will have been re-set (new year) by the time bub comes, unfortuately!

Thanks very much,

Judabellah :)

[HeidiLee]

Our pediatrician cost was $220 - he saw our boy on discharge. We got about half back from Medicare.

No idea on Epi as I didnt have one.

I had to pay for all blood tests and ultrasounds being private but got part of everything back from Medicare.

[Entropy]

Hey there, I had my bub 2 weeks ago by c/s at the MMPH. Haven't got the bill for the Anaesthetist yet! But from memory with my first daughter, you get most of it back from Medicare and also MBF. I'll let you know when the bill comes in, lol.

I had a number of blood tests taken while in hospital and have gotten a bill for those (argh). No idea why they aren't bulk billed, but QML sent a two-way claim form so again - I think I will get most of it back from Medicare and MBF.

Good luck with your VBAC! I had really wanted one, but due to health issues I had to have another emergency c/s. Fingers crossed for you :)

HTH?

[Izy]

Pathology and radiology work like any other dr's in the fact that they can choose to charge what they like. You sometimes have out of pockets but not always. You can't really know for sure what your out of pockets for these will be ahead of time, cause you don't know what tests you'll need.

For the costs such as aneasthatist it will depend on who you get. You can call the hospy and ask for the names of the on call aneasthatists, or check if your Ob physically calls in an aneasthatist that they would want to work with.

From there you can ask the different dr's what the anticipated out of pocket would be.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[rainbowmummy22]

Check with your hospital, HBA covers me 100% in a member first hospital. I dont remember paying anything for an epi and if there was a charge it would have been under 100 because I dont remember it!
Good Luck

[nicw]

I had both children privately. My first birth a CS the anaesthetist charged a $200 out of pocket payment. It was an emergency CS on a saturday morning and she was on the way to the races (lol) so she deserved it. The assisting obs charged me the schedule cost so it was totally covered by my health fund. The paed charged about a $100 out of pocket.

My second birth was also by CS (elective) and that time the assisting obs charged $100 out of pocket. The anaesthetist and the paed charged the schedule fee so covered by my health fund. I do remember getting some blood tests bills with both kids but the majority of the cost was covered. I may have been $10 here or there out of pocket for bloods. All my CTG's were free throughout the pregnancy via the public hospital system. Outpatient blood tests were also free (medicare) as my obs uses gribbles and they bulk bill most tests. Dorevitch charges a bomb so alot of the times you can take a request form into gribbles even if it is on a different referral form and gribbles will still do it.
My U/Sounds 4 for each pregnancy were anywhere between $60 and $100 dollars out of pocket.

I would definately ask your obs who they prefer to work with. My obs has a preference list of who he uses and i was able to choose the day before my CS who my assisting ob was. I chose based on reputation not cost but i guess i could have asked the receptionist what the cost was at the time to get a fair idea. I have a friend that was almost $800 out of pocket for her anaesthetist!!

[jag5000]

my anaesthetist bill was weird

it was a total of $550 out of pocket cost... but then in small print at the bottom said.. "if you wish you may only pay $130"

guess which one I chose to pay?? :D

[mum_I'm_hungry]

If you're going to the Mater, it will completely depend on who your anaesthetist is when it comes to what you pay. Most of the anaesthetists there charge only the gap, but there are a couple who charge the full AMA rates. Just ask your obstetrician if someone from a group will be called, or whether someone specific will be called in (most likely will be from a group, though...) and the costs associated with all scenarios epidural, spinal, top ups etc.

[krystle08]

I had my baby at the Wesley 8 weeks ago. the anaesthetist charged me $975 for the epidural, with a $300 discount if it was paid within 14 days. From memory medicare paid about $200 and PHI only paid about $80, and I have top cover with HBA. Apparently medicare will pay 75% of the "scheduled fee" (which is only about $300) and PHI pay the balance of the scheduled fee, so doctors can charge whatever they want.

the paediatrician charged us $110 each time he saw the baby and he saw her every day for the four days we were in, PHI doesn't cover any of it even though it is an in hospital service, but you will get about $40 or so from medicare.

and my and baby's blood tests also weren't bulk billed and amounted to heaps, about $600! PHI does pay some of it if is done in hospital though.

wish I had known all this before going private, I only really thought about my doctor (who didn't charge me anything for the delivery and billed direct to PHI) and the hospital excess charge!