Hi suki, if you don’t mind me asking, how much did that cost in the private system? Regards, Anna
I have top cover, but I was out of pocket for both the surgeon and anesthetist. Hospital and theatre costs etc were fully covered.
Surgeon was $4K out of pocket for the following (she wasn't on my health fund list, so I expected out of pocket):
- breast recon (bilateral) following mastectomy
- skin sparing mastectomy (bilateral)
- sentinel node biopsy
The anesthetist was $1,700 out of pocket for the following:
- consultation
- anaesthesia for mastectomy
- surgery time (3hrs 10mins)
- physical status modifier ASA.3
The Medicare rebates are pretty low. My anesthetist had a harder job as I had completed neoadjuvant chemo (prior to surgery) with targeted therapies that can affect your heart. So your costs may not be the same.
