Your Cost
One of the most common inquiries we receive is in regards to the cost of plastic surgery in Sydney. The cost is often dependent on your specific procedure, its site and size, and a range of other factors, such as whether your procedure attracts an item code. Whether you have private health insurance and the tier of this insurance can also be a factors to consider.
When you see us, we will prepare a thoroughly detailed quote after your consultation. This quote will take into account all costs, such as the surgeon’s fee, anaesthetist’s fee, assistant’s fee, implants if required, theatre fee, and hospital stay.
Cost of Anaesthetic
Anaesthetists’ services and expenses are in addition to the surgeon’s fee. Anaesthetists bill in “units,” and this charge depends on the complexity of the type of surgery, its duration, and whether any monitoring devices are used.
Cost of Hospital Stay
Hospital accommodation charges will depend on how many nights you are required to be admitted versus whether your procedure is a day-only one.
Costs will also encompass any specific requirements in regards to diet or special assistance that may be required for wheelchair access or allergies.
Additional fees that are not covered by the quote we provide may occasionally be charged by additional providers if they are involved in your care.
This includes:
- Pathology fees are charged if any tissue is sent for examination or blood tests are collected
- Radiology Imaging, if required
- Additional doctors’ fees, if they are required to see you
Securing your surgery
Surgery can only be booked once your seven-day cooling-off period has ended. A deposit is paid at the time you book. This is required to secure a date for your operation in the hospital and ensure the surgeon, theatre, hospital team, and anaesthetist are booked exclusively for you.
Note that all surgeries must be paid in full a month prior to the scheduled procedure. If payment is not received by the due date, the operation will be cancelled.
Why do Cosmetic surgery prices differ around Australia?
Major price differences for plastic cosmetic surgery procedures often reflect the type of Surgeon who is performing the operation. This may factor in such things as the surgeon’s skills, expertise level, and qualifications.
While significant price differences may be confusing at first, these differences typically indicate that the surgery is either:
- NOT inclusive of everything needed AND/OR
- not being performed by a seasoned specialist AND/OR
- being performed using local anaesthetic methods, not a general anaesthetic
It is important to be sure you’ve chosen a genuinely Australian qualified surgeon. Look for someone who is AHPRA-recognised as being a Specialist Plastic Surgeon rather than just a so-called ‘cosmetic doctor’ or ‘cosmetic surgeon’ (a GP or skin disease doctor in most circumstances). There is often a huge difference in training and ongoing education for Plastic Surgeons vs other types of doctors who enter the cosmetic surgery field. More information on this can be found here.
Plastic Surgeons are typically the most qualified and extensively tested in surgical skills for cosmetic, plastic surgery and reconstructive procedures. If not, you may end up surprised at how little experience your Surgeon actually has with your procedure. If they’re not a Specialist Plastic Surgeon, they will not tend to have hospital operating and admitting rights. They’ll only be able to operate in their own day surgery centres or back rooms (not recommended).
Which factors contribute to how much surgery costs, or how much a surgeon charges?
- Experience of the Surgeon (or less qualified Doctor) in that procedure.
- Formal training and qualifications.
- The degree of customisation, advanced techniques and suturing, safety measures, and other surgical components.
- Types of anaesthesia and pain management, plus follow-up care.
- Premium vs. cheap brands (breast implants), drains vs. no drains.
- Incision placement, incision healing aids, and rapid-recovery protocols.
- Post-up recovery aids
- Recovery necessities:
- garments
- scar management
- healing reviews
- Hospital operating privileges – top Surgeons usually have private and/or public hospital operating rights and admission rights in accredited hospital facilities.
Dr Kumar consultation fees for the first consultation?
Dr Kumar’s consultation fee is $400. Consultations run for 60 minutes; consultations after weight loss, or where more than one area concerns you, are booked for 90 minutes. A current GP referral is required for all procedures, and is also what allows the Medicare rebate of approximately $88 to be claimed against this fee.
Can the consultation or procedure be bulk billed or “no-gapped”?
We are unable to “bulk bill” or “no gap” for most services. Occasionally, there will be circumstances where we will able to do this, but it is at the discretion of Dr Kumar. There are frequent gaps between the surgeon’s fees and the amount you can receive back as a rebate from Medicare and your health fund. This is because these rebates have continued to lag well behind inflation and do not reflect the true cost of providing health care.
We will provide a fee estimate for surgery that will include 3 components – Dr Kumar’s fees, the Anaesthetist fees and the Hospital Fees. The Hospital will run your health fund check when we are preparing your quote to determine your specific rebate entitlement. We also invite you to discuss fees with our administration team and patient coordinator.
Will my private health insurance cover the costs of surgery?
The level of coverage varies depending on the type of procedure, the level of cover you have, your waiting periods, and the exclusions of your health fund. We ask that patients contact their health insurer once they have a quote from us that itemises the elements of their proposed procedure to see what coverage they have. Due to privacy laws, we cannot make these inquiries on your behalf, so any estimates of health fund rebates we provide are only indicative and must be confirmed by the patient before the procedure to avoid potentially significant unexpected costs.
If you are eligible, you may find that your health fund will rebate you a proportion of your fees; however, this is always a small amount, and there will remain out-of-pocket expenses.
Claiming a rebate for your procedure?
Once your procedure has been completed, you can take your receipt to Medicare if it has a Medicare item number (generally for breast reduction, abdominoplasty, weight loss skin removal, and a number of other plastic surgery procedures). Purely cosmetic procedures (such as anti-wrinkle injections or breast augmentation) do not attract a Medicare rebate.
Once Medicare has assessed your claim, you can take your documentation to your health fund.
Generally, health funds won’t pay a rebate on items not subject to a Medicare rebate, and they will refuse all claims where the primary purpose of the surgery was cosmetic.
Using superannuation to pay for your procedure?
Early release of superannuation on compassionate grounds is administered by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and is available only in limited circumstances. Dr Kumar’s team can discuss with you whether your procedure may genuinely meet the requirements, but ultimately the decision is between you, your financial planner and the ATO.
Payment plans for plastic surgery?
We offer in-house payment plans for breast augmentation, breast reduction, abdominoplasty (tummy tucks), and other plastic surgery we offer in Westmead, Penrith, or Orange.
For patients booking surgery up to 6 months in advance, we are happy to accept regular payments up until 1 month before the surgery is scheduled, when the final payment is due. This is, of course, interest-free, which means you don’t have to worry about paying for your procedure after you have had it. We just ask that if your payments are made via direct deposit, they always include your surname for tracking.
We also accept Cash, Visa, Mastercard, and direct deposit.
We are not affiliated with or endorse any particular financing company.
Before making any large financial decision, we encourage our patients to seek out independent financial advice to ensure that they make the best financial choice for their circumstances.
More information about payment options is in our dedicated article here.
Cancellation policy?
The demand for an appointment and surgery with Dr Kumar is very high. We ask that if you need to reschedule or cancel an appointment, at least two full working days notice be provided. This will allow us to offer the appointment to our wait-listed patients. If you cancel an appointment on shorter notice or do not attend, then the full consultation or service fee will be charged.
Our cancellation policy for surgery is outlined in the written quote you will receive after your consultation.
About Dr Rohit Kumar
Dr Rohit Kumar (MED0001630444) is a registered medical practitioner with specialist registration in surgery – plastic surgery. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS), ANZBCPS Board Certified, and has over 20 years of surgical experience.
His practice centres on breast and body surgery. He has a particular focus on body contouring after major weight loss in both men and women: the arms, chest and breasts, back, abdomen, hips, flanks, buttocks and thighs. He also treats changes after pregnancy and age-related breast changes, such as large or drooping (ptotic) breasts.
Dr Kumar performs all of his weight-loss surgery at Westmead Private Hospital, where he also trains surgical registrars and fellows in post-weight-loss techniques. He consults in Westmead, Penrith and Orange.
At your consultation, Dr Kumar assesses your concerns and explains what surgery can and cannot achieve, including the risks, before recommending a plan. Dr Kumar’s team supports you from your first phone call through to recovery. The nurses who prepare you for surgery are the same nurses who see you at every post-operative review.
Request a consultation or call 1300 267 726.
