In Australia, health care providers set their own fees. Before treatment starts, your doctors and other health care providers will usually talk to you about the likely fees (called out-of-pocket costs). This is called informed financial consent. You can ask questions if something is not clear, and you can ask for this information in writing, so you can refer to it during your treatment.
There may be extra costs associated with your treatment that you did not expect. For example, if you have surgery as a private patient, you may pay for your stay in hospital and for the anaesthetist, as well as for the surgical procedure.
Sometimes it is not possible to give informed financial consent before medical care, such as in an emergency. If this happens, you should be asked for consent as soon as it is practical afterwards.
Exploring medical costs
The Australian Government’s online tool Medical Costs Finder is a general guide to the typical fees, private health insurance contributions and out-of-pocket costs for medical services in your area. The Medical Costs Finder covers services provided in and out of hospital.
To see a general list of what Medicare and private health insurance cover, visit the Private Health, an Australian Government website with a range of information on private health insurance. If you have private health insurance, you will need to contact your health fund to find out what costs are covered in your policy.
Services Australia (Centrelink) offers a range of payments that may be available to people with cancer. Talk to your social worker or visit Services Australia.
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Elena Schiena, Social Work – Clinical Lead, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Tracey Bilson, Consumer; Tarishi Desai, Manager – Treatment & Supportive Care, McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer, VIC; Sarah Flynn, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Kim Greco, Lung Cancer Nurse Consultant, Flinders Medical Centre, SA; Dr Catherine Joyce, National Manager, Advance Care Planning Australia; Hall & Wilcox Lawyers; Linda Magann, CNC Palliative Care, St George Hospital, NSW; Joanna Page, Consumer; Brian Stace, Consumer; Dr Sabine Wardle, Senior Social Worker, Embrace Care Solutions and Charles Sturt University, NSW.
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