Govt’s cost finder website to finally list specialists’ fees… soon
But it will be voluntary, and officials won't say how many doctors are signing up
The Federal Government’s specialist fees website is finally going to reveal the fees charged by individual specialists — as long as they agree first.
Touted as a fix for ‘bill shock’, the Medical Costs Finder website launched three years ago but was dubbed a waste of time because it only lists average out-of-pocket costs for about 1300 in-hospital and out-of-hospital procedures.
But next month, testing will start on an upgraded version allowing individual specialists to list their fees for a limited number of procedures.
Plastic surgeons, obstetricians, ENT specialists, urologists and gastroenterologists would be first in line, with the ability to list their fees for approximately 100 MBS-rebated procedures, the Department of Health said.
