Questionable charges on my Medicare record
July 10 / 2025 / 1:55 AM
The day before my operation, my anaesthetist called me for a quick chat - maybe five minutes while I was in the car. Then on the day of surgery, we spoke again briefly before the procedure. Now I’ve checked my Medicare records and found two charges for “pre-anaesthetic consultations” - one on each day. Is that right? It feels a bit dodgy.
A: You’re right to question it – it does sound dodgy.
Firstly, the only telehealth service anaesthetists are allowed to bill doesn’t sound like it applied to you. And secondly, billing two pre-anaesthetic consultations on a generally healthy patient having elective surgery is very worrying. One or both of those charges is likely fraudulent.
Please contact us– we’d love to take a closer look and guide you on what to do next.