Patient Billing Policy

AR Plastic Surgery

Welcome to AR Plastic Surgery. We want you to feel completely at ease about the cost of your care, so this guide explains how our fees and payments work — from your first consultation through to surgery and recovery. Our aim is simple: no surprises.

If anything here is unclear, or your situation is a little different, please just ask. Our team is always happy to talk you through it before you commit to anything.

1. The types of care we provide

To help you understand your fees and booking timeline, we group our services into five areas:

• Clinic consultations and aftercare — appointments at our rooms, including your first consultation, pre-operative appointments and post-operative reviews. These appointments are where we discuss your treatment plan and look after your care before and after surgery.
• Skin cancer and skin lesion surgery — skin biopsies and tissue samples, and procedures to treat skin conditions, such as removing skin cancers or benign lesions like a cyst or lipoma, performed as an inpatient or outpatient.
• Elective surgery in hospital — planned, non-emergency operations booked in advance for reconstructive, medical and/or cosmetic reasons.
• Revision surgery and complications — a follow-up procedure your surgeon considers necessary within 12 months of your original operation, to address an unexpected complication.
• Emergency surgery — urgent, unplanned procedures needed to treat trauma or an urgent medical condition. In these cases, we’ll try to provide a fee estimate before your operation wherever we can.

2. Consultations and appointment fees

• Your consultation. The fee for your consultation is explained by our team when you book, and is typically $300–$400 depending on the individual surgeon. For all elective surgery and telehealth consultations, we ask for prepayment of this fee to secure your appointment time. Skin cancer consultations don’t require a prepayment.
• Cancelling a consultation. To help us manage our schedule, please give at least 48 hours’ notice if you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment. If this notice isn’t provided, we’re unfortunately unable to refund your prepayment.
• Pre-operative appointment. This applies to all elective surgeries. Around three weeks before surgery, your surgeon and treatment coordinator will see you for a dedicated pre-operative appointment. This has a standard fee of $100–$150.
• Post-operative reviews. Provided a valid GP referral is on file, these appointments can be billed directly to Medicare, with your consent.
• Medicare rebates. Provided you have a valid GP or specialist referral and your condition is confirmed as medical, a Medicare rebate may reduce your out-of-pocket cost for your appointments and surgery. It’s important to check your referral is current before your appointments and/or surgery.

3. Skin lesion surgery in hospital

Hospital theatre time for skin lesion surgery is in high demand. To secure your theatre time, we ask for a $500 payment when you book — either your known gap, if you’re using private health insurance, or a $500 deposit if you’re paying privately. How your fees are handled depends on the reason for surgery:

• Skin cancer (with private health insurance). Each surgeon sets their own fee schedule. Depending on your surgeon, your procedure may be completed under a known gap arrangement, which gives you a capped, known out-of-pocket cost of $500.
• Benign or non-cancerous skin lesions removed for cosmetic reasons, along with lipoma and cyst excisions, generally attract a private surgical fee.

4. Elective surgery bookings and fees

Securing your surgery date

To reserve your theatre date and begin preparing for your surgery, we ask for a $2,000 deposit. This is credited toward your total surgeon’s fee — it isn’t an extra charge. It’s non-refundable, because it covers costs we commit to on your behalf once your date is reserved.

Paying your balance

The remaining balance of your surgeon’s fee is due in full three weeks before your surgery date.

How long your estimate lasts

Estimates provided by your surgical team, hospital and anaesthetist remain valid for three months. After this period, fees may be updated.

Changing or cancelling your surgery date

We understand that plans change. Two things to be aware of:

• If you cancel or postpone within three weeks of your surgery date, the $2,000 deposit can’t be refunded, as your theatre time and preparation are already committed.
• If your surgery is rescheduled more than twice, we’ll ask for the full surgical fee upfront when you rebook, so we can secure a new date for you.

5. Revision surgery and complications

If a revision procedure is considered necessary within 12 months of your initial operation, your surgeon’s fees will be managed directly. However, third-party expenses not covered by your health insurance — such as hospital, anaesthesia, assistant and implant costs — remain your responsibility. We’ll always prepare a full estimate for you beforehand.

Revision or complication care following cosmetic procedures is generally excluded from Medicare and private health fund coverage. Should revision surgery or hospital readmission be required within 12 months, additional facility and anaesthesia fees will apply.

6. Emergency surgery

Because emergency procedures are urgent and unplanned, they sit outside our standard prepayment schedules. We’ll try to provide an estimate and obtain your informed financial consent as early as possible, though this may not always be possible before emergency treatment.

7. What your estimate includes — and third-party fees

Your surgical estimate covers the surgeon’s fee. It excludes third-party costs, which are billed independently by the providers concerned:

• hospital accommodation and theatre fees
• anaesthetist fees
• assistant fees (unless stated on the estimate)
• prescription medications
• pathology
• scans
• allied health
• prosthetics, such as breast implants
• specialised post-operative garments.

Checking your private health cover. If you have private health insurance, please contact your fund early and before booking to confirm that your policy covers the item numbers on your estimate, and to check whether you’ll need to pay a hospital excess or co-payment directly to the hospital. If you don’t have suitable cover, please let us know as soon as possible, as a new financial estimate will apply.

8. GST, Medicare rebates and refunds

• GST. Medically necessary procedures (such as skin cancer surgery and reconstruction) are generally GST-free. Procedures performed for purely cosmetic reasons attract GST at 10%. Where GST applies, it will be shown on your estimate.
• Rebates from Medicare and private health funds. Our clinic can submit Medicare rebates on your behalf for consultations and known gap services. For all other private fees, you’ll need to claim your rebates directly from Medicare or your private insurer. For higher-cost surgery, we’ll email you a two-way claim form with your receipt — this lets you claim your Medicare and health-fund benefits together in one step.
• Cosmetic consultations and procedures. Cosmetic consultations and surgery don’t attract any Medicare or private health rebate, so these fees are entirely your own cost.
• Refunds. If you’ve paid more than your total fee, we’ll notify you and refund any credit due.

9. How to pay

We accept debit card, credit card online (BPOINT), electronic funds transfer (EFT) and cash.

Because your surgeon consults as an independent practitioner, payments are made directly into your chosen surgeon’s designated bank account, or through their secure BPOINT card portal.

AR Plastic Surgery has no affiliation with any finance provider, and we don’t offer, arrange or recommend patient financing. How you choose to fund your care is your own decision.

Please note: bank transfers can take one to two business days to clear. Please allow for this in your payment timing, as your theatre slot isn’t secured until the funds have cleared into our account.

10. Questions or feedback

If you’d like anything explained, or you need to discuss a change to your booking, please call our team on 07 3870 3960 — we’re glad to help. For feedback or a formal billing enquiry, you can also see our feedback and complaints policy at arplasticsurgery.com.au/feedback.