One of the most common inquiries we receive is in regards to 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 whether your procedure attracts an item code. Whether you have private health insurance and the tier of this insurance can also be a factor 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. The fee can cost around $500-$1000 per hour. 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 accomodation 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 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

To book surgery, a deposit is due when you book in your procedure. This becomes non-refundable after a 7 day cooling off period. This is required to secure a date for your operation in hospital and ensures the surgeon, theatre, hospital team and anaesthetist are booked exclusively for you.

Note that all surgery 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 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 in 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 room (not recommended).

WHICH FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO HOW MUCH SURGERY COSTS, OR HOW MUCH A SURGEON CHARGES?

1. experience of the Surgeon (or less qualified Doctor) in that procedure
2. formal training and qualifications
3. the degree of customisation, advanced techniques and suturing, safety measures and other surgical components
4. types of anaesthesia and pain management plus follow up care
5. premium vs cheap brands (breast implants), drains vs no drains
6. incision placement, incision healing aids and rapid-recovery protocols
7. post-up recovery aids
8. recovery necessities:
   • garments
   • scar management
   • healing reviews
9. 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 for a 45-60 minute cosmetic surgery appointment is $400. This fee is subject to a Medicare rebate of just over $75 if you have a doctor’s referral.

For women considering breast surgery, you may like to book a $100 Vectra breast surgery simulation with our Patient Co-ordinator. The cost is rebated against your consultation with Dr Kumar if your surgery is booked within 12 months from your simulation. More information about this service, and to book online, please visit our Vectra page.

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 circumstance where will be 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 and we ask that you to check with your health fund to determine your specific rebate entitlement. We also invite you to discuss fees with our administration team and patient co-ordinator.

WILL MY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE COVER THE COSTS OF SURGERY?

The level of coverage varies on the type of procedure, level of cover you have, your waiting periods and the exclusions of your health fund. We ask that patients to contact their health insurer once they have a quote from us which itemises the elements of their proposed procedure to see what cover they have. Due to privacy laws, we can not make these enquiries on your behalf so any estimate of health fund rebates we provide are indicative only 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 were the primary purpose of the surgery was cosmetic.

USING SUPERANNUATION TO PAY FOR YOUR PROCEDURE?

Superannuation release on compassionate grounds is possible, but also challenging. It is only available in cases of chronic or acute pain and generally is only granted for patients seeking surgery such as breast reduction or abdominoplasty where the patient is suffering ongoing pain. Please note that we can not complete this form for you – you need to start the process and have your GP provide a report. For those committed to surgery, we will then complete our section of the paperwork.

PAYMENT PLANS FOR PLASTIC SURGERY?

We offer payment plans for breast augmentation, breast reduction, tummy tucks and other plastic surgery we offer in Sydney.

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 and means you don’t have the worry of paying for your procedure after you have had it. We just ask that if your payments are made via direct deposit that they always include your surname for tracking.

We also accept Visa, Mastercard, TLC (Total Lifestyle Credit) loans, MacCredit loans and direct deposit.

We are not affiliated or endorse any particular financing company.

Other patients in the past have approached their existing banks for redraws, personal loans or used a low-interest credit card to help assist funding their procedure.

Others have been able to access their superannuation.

Before making any large financial decision, we do encourage our patients to seek out independent financial advice to ensure that you make the best financial choice for your circumstance

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 should you need to reschedule or cancel an appointment that at least 2 full working days notice is 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 of surgery policy is outlined on the written quote you will receive after your consultation.