Forum Discussion
Public patient Private radiation (Toowoomba)
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share a useful bit of info for anyone going through something similar. My nearest radiation facility is 4hrs drive away in Toowoomba, but it’s private & I am a public patient. I went for my planning appointment this week & at the end I was taken aside into a small office & given my ‘Estimated Fees’. The admin officer asked if I had means to pay $6000 on day 1 upfront, and that would then be rebated through Medicare. The grand total of 3 weeks treatment was $15000. I said that I could maybe borrow money from
a relative. I felt very patronised & have been stressing for the past few days about how to get that money upfront. To top it off my (old) car broke down on the trip home, so now I need to buy a new one - ugh!
I went to see my wonderful GP today to ask him to sign a Compassionate release of Superannuation form. He said ‘You shouldn’t have to touch your super, you’re a public patient!’ He rang the private hospital and clarified that it would be difficult to access money (particularly after being off work for surgery & chemo since May 2024). A lovely admin phoned me afterwards & explained that Medicare can fund the upfront payments. I just have to sign a form that they email me & each week of treatment I will have the funds from Medicare land in my account & it will then transfer across to the private hospital. I will only have to pay a total of $1000 over the course of my treatment. Phew! I was so stressed about this. Apparently this is not an option for all patients, but I think it’s important info if anyone else is in the same boat. The last thing we need is extra stress!
Just wanted to share a useful bit of info for anyone going through something similar. My nearest radiation facility is 4hrs drive away in Toowoomba, but it’s private & I am a public patient. I went for my planning appointment this week & at the end I was taken aside into a small office & given my ‘Estimated Fees’. The admin officer asked if I had means to pay $6000 on day 1 upfront, and that would then be rebated through Medicare. The grand total of 3 weeks treatment was $15000. I said that I could maybe borrow money from
a relative. I felt very patronised & have been stressing for the past few days about how to get that money upfront. To top it off my (old) car broke down on the trip home, so now I need to buy a new one - ugh!
I went to see my wonderful GP today to ask him to sign a Compassionate release of Superannuation form. He said ‘You shouldn’t have to touch your super, you’re a public patient!’ He rang the private hospital and clarified that it would be difficult to access money (particularly after being off work for surgery & chemo since May 2024). A lovely admin phoned me afterwards & explained that Medicare can fund the upfront payments. I just have to sign a form that they email me & each week of treatment I will have the funds from Medicare land in my account & it will then transfer across to the private hospital. I will only have to pay a total of $1000 over the course of my treatment. Phew! I was so stressed about this. Apparently this is not an option for all patients, but I think it’s important info if anyone else is in the same boat. The last thing we need is extra stress!
Views
Sign in to react to this post
1 Reply
- WOOHOO!! Well done for approaching your wonderfully supportive GP & their advice to you xx It is SO good to know this @ruralmum2, as I know some people have gone private for Rads & paid a motza! :( And pretty sure they DIDN'T get it all back on Medicare. It annoys me SO much that they try & make you pay for stuff upfront, if it will be rebated anyway - so makes much more sense to bypass that step altogether (as they've proven can happen, with simple emails & signature!) Do you know what the 'rules are' re qualifying for this option?
Bummer about the car tho :( I hope you can get something within your budget xx
Don't forget that as a rural/regional patient - you will get rebates from your state's Patient Transport Scheme - and also partial cost of accommodation too. I did all 4 weeks of my Rads away from home (came home for weekends) and stayed at the hospital lodge which was heavily discounted .... I ended up paying much less than $1000, all up, and nothing for the actual Rads! ... My surgery was private (with a fairly big gap fee) but all my Rads & ongoing Onc is free as I went public for it.
In Qld, you get 34c/km as long as your appointment is more than 50km away, and $70 a night towards paid accommodation & $10 a night even if staying wth friends!
Check it out here:
https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/pats-fact-sheet-and-guide-2024.pdf
take care & all the best for the rads xx Do they do Mepitel (or similar, strata xrt) to protect the surface of the skin? Make sure you ask them about that xx
