Radiation Costs

Unicornkisses said:

@LucyE  when I was admitted to the public hospital during chemo with high temps. (I am usually a private patient) it was explained to me that if I was admitted as a private patient in the public hospital, they would be paid by my health insurer for my treatment, it wouldn't cost me anything. But it would mean that the hospital would have more money coming in. I think the public hospitals need all the money they can get so I agreed to be admitted as a private patient. 
It didn't mean anything different for me, treatment wise or cost wise, but apparently it helped the hospital.
However, if I had not been offered a reduced rate for radiation from the private clinic, I would have had to go public for that. 
The coffers are now almost empty.

Absolutely right @Unicornkisses this was also explained to me, I went into the public hospital to have my single mastectomy/diep flap recon late February and they said I could use my Health Cover, it just means they get more funds coming in and I get a few extra perks. Unfortunately who I was with at the time though were a nightmare so we all decided not to. 

My chemo was covered with my Private Health Cover, no out of pocket and when I did radiotherapy I went public and there was no wait at all, was just the same. 
@LucyE my surgery in the Public hospital also required a wait in Category 1 I was due to recurrence, I went that option as both my Surgeon and Plastic Surgeon work in public also and this eliminated any out of pocket. I would have been $10,000 out of pocket if I went privately Uuugh. 

The consultants at private health places advise you to say you'll go public if in a public hospital.  Suppose they are saving their company money?  But beware, a friend ended up being in a public hospital and went in as private patient --- and was charged $900 for the stay.  So what do you do!

That’s interesting @Unicornkisses. It was 3am when I went there and I wasn’t really following what they said about private health cover, but it’s good to know that for the future. I know what you mean about treatment costs! I think the cost of radiotherapy is way too high for most people in the private system. After chemo it was quite stressful just getting there, without having to worry about the other side of it all. Glad it’s all over. Hope you are doing well. x 

@LucyE  when I was admitted to the public hospital during chemo with high temps. (I am usually a private patient) it was explained to me that if I was admitted as a private patient in the public hospital, they would be paid by my health insurer for my treatment, it wouldn't cost me anything. But it would mean that the hospital would have more money coming in. I think the public hospitals need all the money they can get so I agreed to be admitted as a private patient. 
It didn't mean anything different for me, treatment wise or cost wise, but apparently it helped the hospital.
However, if I had not been offered a reduced rate for radiation from the private clinic, I would have had to go public for that. 
The coffers are now almost empty.

Hi @Romla, my surgeon told me that she could operate on me in the public system when I was first diagnosed, but it would have been a 3 week wait, instead of the next day or two and she couldn’t guarantee that a trainee surgeon wouldn’t be involved.

My chemo was all covered by private health insurance. I think it’s the radiotherapy that’s the problem. I would have gone through the public system if I hadn’t got it cheaper than usual privately. I don’t think there would have been a delay with having radiotherapy in the public system. They need to stop taking from people who are already paying a lot of out of pocket expenses.

 I went to the emergency department last year at 3am. They asked me if I wanted to use my private cover. My response was that I was happy to be treated as a public patient at that time. It’s a balance. Private health insurance is expensive and they are going to drive more people into the public system which will make the waiting times longer for everyone. 

Hi @Romla
Even if you go to the public hospital your private cover can be used so you need not feel guilty at all ! 
My husband recently went into a public hospital in an emergency as the private one was on ambulance bypass - and the first thing they did was get him to sign up so they could access his private cover.
I know some ladies have their surgery in private but request using the public system for chemo and/or radiation - and they were in as quick as can be with excellent care.
Hopefully some Adelaide ladies will come on line and tell you of their experience in SA.
Big hugs  Summer  :-)

May I ask was there any delays/ waiting period before receiving radiotherapy in the public system? I went private but did not know I could blend my treatment between public and private - the $2000 out of pocket I incurred could have been used for my family . Guess I'm interested in the difference between public and private with bc treatment - my team operate in both sectors - would have felt guilty to occupy a public bed if my private cover would pay for it.

I went private, but was only $600
of pocket. I had to pay upfront, but got most of it back. It's worth asking about the cost. 

I am just into the radiation treatment.
My treatment has all been private, and my breast surgeon referred me to the Radiation Oncology Centre which is a private centre but she apparently noted that I was concerned about cost. We had told her that we would go public if the costs were going to be high.
The Radiation Centre told me on my first visit that they would organise my treatment with a maximum out of pocket being $400. The rest would be paid by Medicare.
This was not the usual arrangement, with out of packet costs usually being around the $2,000 mark.
We have an excellent Cancer Centre close by so it was no issue with me to go public. 
I decided to go with the private option as they were all the same treatment team.

I went private cost about $12k the first time my out of pocket read around $1300.  Was not even offered a public alternative.  Very efficient though never waited long.  Could schedule around work.  My only issue was that o had to pay all every session but was reimbursed by Medicare within 24 hours .  Lucky I had plenty of credit on my credit card at the time