Private Health Insurance

Patients with Private Health Insurance can be treated in a private hospital by Dr O’Carrigan should surgery be necessary for your condition. Dr O’Carrigan operates at Campbelltown Private Hospital, South West Private Hospital in Liverpool and St Lukes Private Hospital in Potts Point.

Once a decision has been made to proceed to surgery Dr O’Carrigan will assign a date and location for your surgery taking into account your preference for location and time as well as clinical urgency and theatre availability in his schedule. A detailed consent process will be undertaken(could have a link to this section on my website).

Dr O’Carrigan will then identify the item numbers relevant to your surgery so that a detailed quote can be prepared by his secretarial staff. Dr O’Carrigan’s fees are based on the AMA Schedule which is an industry standard. The quote will identify our fee and the estimated rebate you will be entitled to from your health fund and medicare and the anticipated Gap(out of pocket expenses).

The hospital charges and prostheses costs are usually covered entirely by your health fund unless you have an excess arrangement with them.

You will also be provided with contact details for my Anaesthetist Dr Vernier and my assistant Dr Pavel Prociuk so that their offices can provide you with the quotes for their services.

It is asked that all fees are paid in full prior to the surgery.

The Advantage of Private Health Insurane:

Private health insurance is an expensive product and the system as it has been established by the government is complex and difficult for patients to understand but essentially the advantages of Private Health Insurance are:
1. Ability to Choose the Doctor you wish to perform your surgery
2. Choice over location of the surgery
3. Choice over timing of the surgery

Workers Compensation or Third Party

If your problem is covered by the Workers Compensation Scheme or a Compulsory Third Party Insurer then your surgery can be performed in a private hospital and the time and location will be set by Dr O’Carrigan in conjunction with your wishes.

Surgery cannot proceed until your surgery is approved by the Insurance Company. Relevant correspondence is provided by Dr O’Carrigan to the insurance company and my office assists in receiving approval for the surgery. Sometimes surgery is delayed or not able to proceed because the Insurance company delays approval or declines approval.

Department of Veterans Affairs

DVA patients can be treated by Dr O’Carrigan and he accepts the rebate from DVA for your operation. if you are a Gold Card member then approval is usually routine – if you are a White Card Member then approval will only be provided if it relates to a “Recognised Condition” that you were awarded the White Card for.