Yahhh

It's not rude to ask at all. She is right it is not covered by Medicare. It's a really bad rule, apparently if you lipo from one breast to another it is covered but not from any other part of the body. I don't know the exact cost of having lipo on its own, or what your health fund pays but here is what I have learnt. If there is no medicare claimable item number then nothing is covered if you go private. This means that even the health fund does not cover it. It is a joke as they only cover "cancer surgery". I don't know what they think we are having lipo for? Apparently it's considered cosmetic. My surgeon was very apologetic. It is yet another thing that needs to be sorted with medicare. I am unsure about public. I am not sure if it is claimable if you just have a mastectomy scar (ie no reconstruction). The good news is that if you have other surgery for example scar revision or nipple creation then this is claimable. This means that at least your hospital/theatre fees etc are covered. It's then up to what the surgeon what they charge for the lipo. My surgeon charged $500 for the lipo but he did scar revision at the same time. I am still waiting for my health fund rebate but think my out of pocket expenses will be around $1200. This includes the charges for scar revision and the anaesthetist bill after rebates. No charge for the hospital. I hope this helps. It really is up to your surgeon what they charge. Paula x