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Band Fills - What do they cost in Oz



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I am coming on holiday to Australia for three months. I have just had my first fill and was wondering if I needed an unfill or another fill how much would it cost?

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Actually, it really varies from doctor to doctor.

It might be worth emailing a couple of surgeons in the area you plan to stay for a quote.

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As mentioned by previous poster it depends on the surgeon. I paid for my banding via private health cover and was out of pocket just over $3,000. This covers me for the life of the band and i do not pay for fills (they are handled via medicare) or anything else to do with the band. I was rebanded last week and was not out of pocket.

Best of luck Shell :biggrin1:

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Hi there - yes me too. I was banded using private insurance and was out of pocket $4k but that covers the life of the band and the fills are covered under a normal Medicare consultation fee for which I pay nothing.

I'm going to put in my anaesthetist bill to Medicare and my fund today - be interesting to see how much I get back. He charged $1200.

bye for now.

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I am not sure if Medicare covers people visiting from over sea's.

I wouldnt think so as to my understanding you have to be an Australian Citizen to be eligable for a Medicare Card and without a Medicare Care card you cant claim Medicare... lol If that made sense..

Shell

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No it wont, you'll pay the full specialist visit fee and get no rebate back on it. So it could be as much as $120, $150 or so, which is what my surgeons' fee was for a standard consultation - not sure if he'd charge for the fill over and above that.

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I'm going for a fill at my GP's, does anyone have any idea on whether the fill should be charged under medicare? I usually pay $55 for a normal consult with him, and get $32.10 back from medicare. My surgeon charges $55 for a fill and consult - medicare pays the rest.

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Medicare has a reciprocal arrangment with some countries of which the UK is one so not sure what the situation would be.

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Tarajane, I'm not sure if that reply was meant for me, I'm in Perth Western Australia... but if it was thanks for replying.

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someone a few posts back was asking about costs if she needs a fill while here in aussie land from the UK. but yes handy to know about it. Medicare has a brochure, some of the other countries are NZ and Malta.

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