Select your specialist
You know the first part. Visit your local GP who may refer you to a specialist (say, a surgeon for example). Here is something new though: Before you go to see a specialist, use our provider search.
Why?
At this point, you can choose your specialist based on how often they participate in our scheme to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses, called Access Gap. Our search tool gives you the choice of specialists in your area and puts the power in your hands. Here is one more reason to feel reassured that choosing a doctor based on their out-of-pocket expenses history is a good decision: Doctors fees do not necessarily have any relationship to the quality of treatment you receive.* So, there’s often no reason to pay more.
How much can you save?
Government statistics show that members using gap cover agreements, like our Access Gap, reduce the average gap per service from $107.84 to $8.61.^ That is a saving of nearly $100 per service.
Now we will show you how to use Access Gap.
First you need to ask your doctor to bill you using Access Gap. If they do, we pay them more than the Medicare Benefit Schedule fee – resulting in lower or no out-of-pocket expenses for you.
The provider search is available here
Next step
*Department of Health, Ministerial Advisory Committee on Out-of-pocket Costs, November 2018
^Private Health Insurance Medical Gap Statistics December 2018, Table 10, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority