Have you finished your family or lost a lot of weight and want to restore your breasts?
A breast lift may be the right answer for you! In this article, I’ll outline what help Medicare and your private health fund may offer depending on your clinical need for surgery.
How much is a breast lift in Newcastle?
At Hunter Plastic Surgery, we are the only plastic surgery practice in the Hunter which outlines fees publicly and with the total costs (not just a surgeons fee and expecting you to add up other costs like for the hospital and anaesthetist). We want our patients to understand all the likely costs before committing valuable time and money to a consultation.
- For insured patients who meet the Medicare criteria for a rebate (or about this later), the total cost of a breast lift is from $15,000, or from $17,000 when combined with liposuction which requires additional theatre time. This price includes the surgeon’s fee, anaesthetist’s fee, hospital stay and garment.
- If you don’t meet the Medicare criteria, or you don’t have private health insurance, the total cost is from $20,000.
- For women looking for a little more volume, it is possible to add some fat transfer to your lift (from an additional $4,000), or even implants for additional fees.
Will Medicare help fund breast lifts?
Yes. The rebate itself is around $1000 but importantly, you must be entitled to the Medicare number to ensure that your private health insurance to kick in.
Medicare states that a rebate is only available in cases where strict conditions are met including that 2/3 of the volume of breast tissue sits below the breast fold.
The Medicare item number is 45558 (to check with your fund). Not all policies will cover this item, so you may consider a change to your cover or even fund.
It is important to come to see me with a GP’s referral to be eligible for a Medicare rebate.
Do we ‘no-gap’ breast lifts?
The ‘no-gap’ system is where the surgeon agrees to take a fixed fee from a private health insurer. While this can seem a positive for patients, in reality the fee the fund pays is simply not enough to run a modern plastic surgery practice like ours which is focused on exceptional clinical outcomes and award-winning care. In some cases, the no-gap fee is less than 40% of the scheduled fee set by the Australian Medical Association. Sadly some providers choose to use this system while also charging a patient a gap – which is unethical and breaches the health fund contracts.
We prefer to be up-front and provide the total costs in a transparent way for you to make informed decisions about the costs vs potential outcomes.
What should you ask when you are considering your options?
These are some questions you might like to ask when looking at different options. My answers apply to the following:
- Is this surgeon a genuine Plastic Surgeon? Understanding this question is crucial. This means have they completed at least 14 years of training and examinations, or even more as I invested 17 years in my training and fellowship. This contrasts with the term ‘cosmetic surgeon’ which anyone with a basic medical degree can get.
- Will you be operated on in a fully accredited hospital? Yes.
- Will a Specialist Anaesthetist administer you a full general anaesthetic? Yes.
- How many of this type of procedure has the surgeon performed? I have performed reductions and lifts on over 1,000 women in Newcastle.
- Can you view lots of before and after clinical photos? Yes – on this website and on social media.
- How well are the risks and recovery process explained? We have information on our website, as well as comprehensive information provided during your consultation and to take home to consider afterwards.
- Are there after care services offered? All patients see both my Practice Nurse Alecia for post-operative support and myself for ensuring support throughout your recovery. It is our focus on patient care that has seen us win 25 awards for our service since founding in 2009.
‘Try before you buy’ with a $100 Vectra 3D surgery simulation.
To explore what a breast lift may look like on your own body, you can book a $100 Vectra 3D surgery simulation with our Practice Manager Jessica. This service is ideal for small to moderate lift and reduction patients.
For breasts with significant laxity the simulation is less accurate but the appointment gives you the opportunity to talk to Jessica about the surgical process, costs, choice of hospital and review of previous patient case studies.
Find more information on the website
Discover more about breast lift (also known by the medical term of mastopexy), including information on costs, hospital arrangements, recovery and also a 3D animation of the procedure by visiting our breast lift page.
Blog Author:
Dr Nicholas Moncrieff, Specialist Plastic Surgeon
About Dr Moncrieff
Dr Moncrieff focuses exclusively on breast reductions, breast lifts, breast augmentation, tummy tucks and body lifts.
He is one of only a handful of Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons across Australia with this sole breast and body focus.
Dr Moncrieff has performed thousands of surgical procedures over more than two decades in medicine. Over 20,000 of these procedures have been in Newcastle.
More information about Dr Moncrieff is available here.
