Anaesthetists’ costs are separate to your surgeon and hospital fees. In many cases, the fee for your anaesthetist will be covered by your private health insurance.

Anaesthetists use the Relative Value Guide (RVG) to calculate their fees. This is published by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA). The nature, complexity and duration of your anaesthesia service are all taken into account in this calculation. Each anaesthetist, by law, must decide upon their own fees.

Medicare and private health funds can rebate some or all of this fee. In some circumstances, the anaesthetist’s fee will not be covered by this rebate, and this varies significantly by health fund. This is because over several decades, the Medicare Schedule Fee has not kept up with inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and the increasing cost of running a medical practice. In these cases, you will have an “out of pocket” expense, which is the difference or “gap” in the amount between the anaesthetist’s fee and the rebates provided by Medicare and your health fund.

If you do have an out of pocket expense, some health funds will allow you to only pay the “gap” expense, while others will require that you pay the full account for your anaesthetist and then subsequently claim the rebate that you are eligible for.

Horizon Anaesthesia aims to provide an accurate estimate of your anaesthetic fees where able, and you have a right to ask your anaesthetist or our administration staff about any fees associated with anaesthesia.

You have a right to ask your health fund if you are covered for the procedure you will be having.

For more detailed information, please visit the Australian Society of Anaesthetists’ webpage, where you will find a more in-depth explanation of health rebates.