cwt3844

Hi Teeny, I'm from your neck of the woods and being banded a couple of days after you at The Avenue. I've got 4 weeks on Optifast, think it varies from surgeon to surgeon. Try not to pig out - its more to lose later and the whole idea of Optifast is to try and use up all the fat stores around our livers and make the chance of laparoscopic surgery more likely. Fat liver = higher chance of them have to cut you open. chocolate now or a dirty big scar across your belly for life????? I know its easier said than done, but I am trying to keep that goal in mind. Best wishes - Cath

My understanding is that, in our public hospital system, surgeons are allocated a given number of theatre hours and they have to prioritise to fit their patients into that time. The Medicare system (Government) covers all those costs. If surgeons have privately insured patients (ie patients' insurance funds will pay theatre costs) the surgeon can access additional theatre time, even in the public system as long as theatre space is available. Of course, in a private hospital those rules don't apply. I might be naive but think the tracking system used in public hospitals is probably tight enough that surgeons can't put private patients in, in preference to private patients. Surgeons tend to direct private patients off to private hospitals as it allows both the doctor and the patient much more flexibility ie what day / time / hospital). I saw my surgeon yesterday for the first time re lapband surgery and with the benefit of private insurance we were able to get our diaries together and sort out best day for both he and I and which private hospital was most convenient for us both. Sadly, not everyone is lucky to have that level of choice. I'm very impressed at your level of interest and knowledge of other health systems. You're right though whilst what we have is not perfect, at least we don't have seriously ill people being dropped outside ER depts without ID as neither they nor their families have a hope of footing hefty hospital bills for essential services. Cheers - Cath

Hi Marnie, Australia also has two tier system - a socialised health system (Medicare) which covers all residents for treatment in public hospitals and also provides refunds which cover all/most/some cost of consultations for general practitioners, medical imaging, pathology, psychology, most medical specialists etc etc. A large number of our hospitals are public, but increasing numbers of private hospitals are springing up too. Medicare is funded through the taxation system but, if you don't earn enough to pay income tax, you are still covered by the system. Of course, the pressures on the health system are increasing and many people who are in the financial position opt to take out private health insurance (roughly $100 a month for a single, and double that for families). This also covers you for the majority of cost of treatment in a private hospital and also gives you the option of a private room and your own choice of doctor in a public hospital. Downside is there are out of pocket costs when you opt to be treated as a private patient patient in a public hospital. Lap banding is, in theory, available in the public system but many hospitals have closed the waiting lists for the procedure as the list is so long. In reality, most lapbanding is done in the private hospital system - depending on your insurer you are usually out of pocket about $3000 or you fund the whole lot yourself for around $13-15000. The out of pocket costs come about as most surgeons / anaesthetists etc charge what the Australian Medical Association recommends and Medicare and the private insurers all base their refunds on what the Government call the Standard Fee (Of ourse, there is a discrepancy between the two!) Our private insurance system is fairly transparent in that you know when you take a particular policy with any given insurer what you are and are not covered for (provided you ask the questions) - you can opt for a lesser coverage and then not be covered for orthodontics or joint replacement surgery etc etc. Only around 40% of Australians have private health insurance and a lot of them opt to be treated as a Medicare patient in public hospitals a lot of the time. The Medicare system still provides the same level of rebate wheIf you were turning up at your local hospital's Accident and Emergency department you would receive essentially the same treatment regardless of whether you did or did not have private insurance. If you needed surgery, you may have more options with private insurance. Our system is not perfect but its pretty good compared to many countries. Enough! - its nice that you are interested in health systems in place around the world. I hope this makes some sense.