The federal government is considering more “punitive measures” to curb the cost of specialist consultations, after data revealed Australians were charged more than five times the benchmark fee on over one million occasions in the past year.

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Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Dr Rachel David told 6PR Breakfast hosts Millsy & Karl that patients are at the mercy of surgeons who charge “wildly different” rates for the same procedure.

“People are being charged wildly different amounts for exactly the same procedure, so someone might go into hospital for a knee replacement with one surgeon and pay nothing out of pocket and, yet, another person may have exactly the same procedure and pay $5000 to $6000,” she said.

David argues this is why the Department of Health is putting out a consultation document about the “excessive fees” at the “high end of the curve”.

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