The federal Minister for Health and Ageing says he is looking at legislation to restrict specialist fees.

“There are areas where we’ve asked for behavioural change; we haven’t got it, and we’re passing laws,” Mark Butler told The Australian last week.

Suggesting all options were “on the table”, he revealed he had asked the Department of Health, Ageing and Disability to draw up plans on reducing out-of-pocket costs faced by patients, which currently average $117 for non-GP specialists.

“Traditionally, doctors have been allowed to charge a modest fee on top of the Medicare rebate, but it has gone well beyond that in some areas.