Mrs Kiwi

My hubbie had a knee athroscopy 2 weeks ago and now needs a few months of physio which will have to be done in Hervey Bay as we move there on Thursday!!

We googled it and it seems physio is not covered by medicare. Is this correct?
If so, how much is an hour of physio?

Many thanks guys.

bobbyfaescotland

I paid $60 for 40 minutes, and my health insurance covered 80% of it.

But I have seen them range from $50-$100.

They usually charge extra for the first session, then reduce for additional ones.

Wol

I've just had a few weeks - $85 per session with no rebates.

Hebe

Depends on cover with Medibank - OH has had both knees done in the past and both times it was covered, or about 80% of the cost. Physio etc is normally around the $60 to $80 mark in Melbourne and I guess it would be the same throughout Australia.

moneypenny20

We pay $50 a time (runs from half an hour to 40 minutes). Don't have health insurance and don't get any back from Medicare.

viviennef

You can also get a ECP from the doctor - not sure about how long you need to be here but we get one for Poppy and she gets 5 sessions free. We also get 10 sessions a year through the league (which obviously you wont get)

Then we have HCF Super multi cover which is the highest paying extra coverage when we took it out. This pays a sliding scale of rebate so we start of paying $15 then by the end of the year it goes up to $32 per session.

For long term complaints health insurance is the way to go.

Petals

I pay about $40 when I go to the physio do not have health insurance.

Seems a bit expensive in QLD.

margy

Hi,

I pay about $50 per session, you can get them for less if you bulk book appointments. We have Medibank and so receive a little back on the cost.

May have to go along the surgery route myself as I've had my second lot of cortisone injections and knee alignment still not fantastic. Don't really want surgery but doctor reluctant to carry on injections

M

ABCDiamond

When I broke my ankle, my doctor referred me to the Hospital Out-patients for Physio, it was free, under Medicare.
I think I had about 6 weekly sessions.

Mrs Kiwi

Thanks guys - am so surprised by the range in physio prices per hour!

Viviennef - whats ECP from the doctor? I will look in to this if we'll get a few sessions free.

Otherwise I think bulk buying physio sessions is the way to go, and private health cover as the knee thing will be ongoing with my hubbie I think.

ABCDiamond

You need to clarify this ECP ..

I googled "ECP and Doctor" and got... Panic over, I did another google, and found:

alipally

I believe that you can get some sessions on medicare.... if you have a referral from your GP.

You can also get 5 sessions of Osteopathy/Chiropractor treatment/medical massage on medicare (gap fee will probably apply, we had to pay $26 gap) but no probs claiming back

Telephone medicare and ask for the code so that the physio puts it on the bill. YOu also need the name and address of the referring doctor and the date of the referral on the invoice. When you telephone, ask how many session you can get per year. They are really helpful.

HTH

andyp80

an ECP is for a condition that is chronic - i.e has to have been there for 6 motnhs or is likly to persist for 6 months. Once that condition is satisfied an EPc can be done which gives you up to 5 bulk billed sessions as participating physios

I do this quite often for my patients

Andy

snowiey

up

Mrs Kiwi

Thanks guys, ECP sounds good. I'll look in to it when we arrive in Oz on Friday!

I feel a bit like a "dole bludger" entering the country and getting a referral from the GP straight away but my hubbie needs physio indefinitely so the cost will mount up.

We're bringing all the doctors & surgeons info from the UK re; his knee so hopefully that will be sufficient to prove hes had the condition 6 months.