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Ward costs are extra fees for being admitted to certain parts of a hospital, like operating theatres, labour wards or the intensive care unit. These fees are separate to the actual cost of treatments and medical procedures.
Some of these are covered by Medicare while others can be partially or entirely covered by private health funds. Keep reading to find out more about the costs covered by your private health insurance.
The costs you may have to pay during a stay in hospital include consultations, equipment use, the facilities you take advantage of and the treatments you undergo.
Some of the extra fees that can be incurred depend on which hospital services you use while there. Some of the big ones are:
Many mothers-to-be prefer to use private health funds to cover labour or maternity ward fees and related expenses. This is because they are then able to choose a private hospital, or be admitted as a private patient to a public hospital where they have more freedom to choose their doctor and services.
Medicare will cover labour ward fees and essential costs for public patients in public hospitals. Particular birth-related procedures are covered when deemed medically necessary or recommended by a specialist obstetrician or professional in a related area. The costs covered include:
In general, Medicare covers the essential costs involved in safely giving birth and reducing pain and discomfort.
The way your private health insurance covers ICU costs depends on the type of policy you have and your insurer. Some basic policies will not cover any ICU ward costs and are generally intended for patients who will opt for public, not private, hospitals. However, more comprehensive policies will typically cover intensive care ward fees.
Under Medicare, an intensive care unit is defined as a facility that fulfils specific requirements. Having these facilities lets a public hospital classify the ward as an intensive care unit, and therefore claim government Medicare funding for emergency treatments carried out there. An intensive care unit must:
If you are admitted to the intensive care unit in a public hospital then the particular treatments you receive there are typically all covered by Medicare. If you are in a private hospital or are a private patient in a public hospital then you will typically need to pay out of pocket or use private health insurance to pay for the costs.
If you were immediately taken to the ICU in an emergency situation or were unconscious during, then you were generally admitted as a public patient, and Medicare will cover treatment and ward costs as applicable.
Operating theatres are special rooms in hospitals that are dedicated to carrying out surgery. Unlike the labour ward or ICU they are not necessarily an entirely separate part of the hospital, but they also incur extra costs like ward fees. Operating theatres must be meticulously sterilised and disinfected after each operation, and almost all surgery requires attention from specialists like anaesthetists, attending nurses and of course the surgeons. These account for the additional operating theatre fees.
Most private health insurance funds will cover operating theatre fees, if not the procedure itself, with mid-level and comprehensive hospital policies. Many, but not all, will also cover it with basic hospital plans. Whether the surgery itself is covered will depend on the type of surgery and its purpose, as well as your hospital and insurer.
Medicare will cover operating theatre fees in the event of essential or emergency operations, as well as the costs of the surgery itself. The public hospital will typically claim these costs directly themselves. If you are a private patient in a public hospital then the costs will typically be covered up to the predefined Medicare benefits, but the hospital might charge you the difference between this and their actual fees. In a private hospital, you will generally be charged the complete cost, for both procedures and operating theatre ward fees, which you may be able to claim on private health insurance.
Picture: Unsplash
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