I learnt a valuable lesson during the month of March, 2023. Words we think mean one thing, can mean something completely different to other people – I think in general life we are all used to this. When it comes to money, especially money involved in the costs of medical treatment, different interpretations can result in an unexpected and unwelcome hit to the bank balance and the budget.
I share these small examples to encourage ALL patients to double and triple check what their provider actually means when they refer to some of these terms. I also encourage the medical profession to be consistent and use clear terminology, removing all risk of ambiguity.
The terms I am looking at today are:
- Bulk-bill
- Out-of-pocket
- Gap
- Rebate
- Non-rebateable
“They do not bulk-bill” does not technically mean the same as “there is no rebate” for a service. Many providers do not bulk-bill, but the patient still gets a rebate. Happens every time I go to my GP. I pay $260.00 and I receive the Medicare rebate of $223.40 overnight into my bank account. Please note that rebate is after having reached the Safety Net Threshold for the year. The fee is also for a long appointment.
The $36.60 is the gap and, to me, my out-of-pocket. A quick unofficial survey on Twitter showed 34% of respondents believe the same as I do. A service that has no rebate and is paid for totally by the patient is, in my simple view of the world, a private service. Like prescriptions for off-label use not being covered by the PBS subsidy – a private prescription.
So, when I was recently told an imaging provider did not bulk-bill, that is what I expected. That is not what happened.
When I arrived I filled out the MRI information and permission forms, including agreeing to $345 “out-of-pocket” expenses. Now, my pain medication befuddled thought process went like this. “That is the standard gap, but they don’t know I’ve hit the threshold, therefore my out-of-pocket will be much less.” The term out-of-pocket does NOT scream to me that there is NO rebate for what you are about to have done. Yet, in this case, that is exactly what it meant.
I knew that in order to receive a Medicare rebate for a knee MRI at my age, I now (Liberal govt changes to Medicare) needed a specialist referral rather than a GP referral. I had the specialist referral. So I thought I was OK here.
Turns out, Medicare “license” only certain specific MRI machines to be allowed to do rebateable knee MRIs for older patients. Other MRIs I have no idea about, but I will ask if I need any! The machine I had been in? No rebate. It isn’t that they don’t bulk-bill, it is that they CANNOT lodge a Medicare claim for my situation at all. Big difference!
The other incident was similar, but different. I rang to book an appointment to have an ultrasound guided steroid shot in a finger. The staff member taking the booking told me the cost was $285. I explained my having reached the safety net threshold to the staff member. Even then I was NOT informed that the $285 included a non-rebateable item number at a cost of $115. My having reached the Safety Net Threshold was not going to have any affect at all on that component of the bill. Why was I not informed? I have no idea.
When did I find out? After the service was provided, as I paid the bill.
In checking numbers for this article, I have just realised I am currently seeing a provider and paying a bill that is NOT being submitted to Medicare at all. At this point I have no idea why, but I will be enquiring. It maybe there is no Medicare item number for this visit type – is this another Liberal govt change to our Medicare system? When I was working, these sorts of things didn’t bother me and probably if they had happened would have slipped under the radar. Now, being on a fixed income, I pay much more attention to the dollars and cents involved in my medical care, given that is where most of my dollars and cents go these days!
Please note, in the grander scheme of things, these are minor expenses. One contact of mine details thousands involved in a chemo treatment that is not on the PBS for the particular cancer being treated. However, minor expenses, especially for those on fixed or low incomes, mount up. I had visions of a single parent being unable to do the grocery shopping this week because of such a situation. I’m also not an inexperienced patient – I’ve been walking this road for a while now. Yet even I got caught out by the ambiguity.
Be careful.
Limberation 