Kiwipaul

The medicare rebate is fixed price depending on the operation. I think I got $3,000 for my operation, so the total cost of my semi private opertation was $7,000 if I'd have gone private the rebate would have been the same, so total cost would have been $13,000.

Quality of treatment was superb, and I've no complaints.

Jolyn

Kiwipaul:

In the UK you wouldn't have had the 'semi-private' option and there's no rebate if you go private. Unless you had private medical insurance or were seriously rich you would have been stuck on the NHS waiting lists.

Glad to hear your operation was a success. Did you get any idea how long the 'indefinite' waiting list would have been? Waiting lists seem so much worse if you're outside Sydney or Melbourne these days.

Kiwipaul

Sorry no idea of the waiting list, I just wanted a resoloution ASAP.
Also the rebate wasn't just one rebate I got bills from everyone and their dogs (surgeon, annestistist, lab, etc) and for each one I had to claim the medicare rebate and then pay the difference. It mist be an admin nightmare. Why the hell they cannot just pay the medical proffessional and I just pay the gap I've no idea, but I had to claim the rebate and then forward the check to the correct person (surgeon etc) with my gap payment.

Cannot comment about how it compares to NHS as my experince is 20 years out of date, but in those days I had no complaints about their service.