Medical Financing in Australia

We get a lot of enquiries asking financing for cosmetic surgery procedures. Today I can announce that the Medical Board of Australia just this month provided clarification on their guidelines regarding financing for cosmetic surgery procedures. Although they state this is not a change to their guidelines, it effectively relaxes how the guidelines can be implemented and interpreted.

Up until now the guidelines have been very vague and open to interpretation. They clearly stated that medical practitioners should not offer any financing schemes to patients other than credit card facilities, either directly or through a third party, to fund cosmetic medical or surgical services. As responsible practitioners in this space we took this guideline literally and seriously and did not offer any financing schemes. This was despite many of our colleagues not following these guidelines.

The Board has now clarified, that it does not wish to restrict patient access to finance nor restrict medical practitioners from providing information to their patients about payment options. This is a radical new interpretation of financing for the Medical Board, and brings it into line with practices everywhere else in the world.

Under the Guidelines, it is now clear that medical practitioners can provide information on their website about funding options and accepted payment methods. The Board no longer considers this to be ‘offering a finance scheme’. Although in the past it most certainly did and could and would punish practitioners for not abiding by this regulation.

The medical board guidelines now clearly states that as medical practitioners we are permitted to do the following

  1. Provide a list of accepted payment methods e.g. cash, credit cards, as well as naming any financing companies that we accept payment from

  2. List ways that patients may wish to source funds, e.g. personal loan or payment plan

  3. Provide information about how patients can find finance providers e.g. ‘Google medical loans’

Somewhat bizarrely we cannot provide you with actual website addresses of finance providers, nor recommend a particular finance provider or payment method. However, it is now clear that Medical practitioners can offer patients the option to pay for their procedure in instalment payments made directly to the practitioner. This apparently is not considered to be a financing scheme. News to us!!!!

In the coming weeks we will update this page to our website outlining our payment options which will include medical financing companies that we accept payments from. Although we are not permitted to recommend a particular company. It is obvious that we would only list firms which provide competitive rates for our patients.

As always surgery in an important medical procedure which does carry risks. And these need to be considered carefully when making any decision to have an operation.

What these clarified guidelines provide is more choice to patients who are good candidates for surgery, who want to have the surgery however want flexibility in how they fund their surgery.

For more information, please contact us on 03 8840 0000

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Next Steps

We always recommend to our patients to do your research and ask as many questions as you can to help make an informed decision.

For the best possible breast augmentation journey, Specialist Plastic Surgeons Dr Richard Bloom and Dr Kim Taylor offer a full range of procedures, along with the support required through every stage of treatment with our exclusive pre and post surgery program Re. Care.

To book a consultation, call 03 8840 0000 or enquire using the contact form below and one of our team members will be in touch for a confidential discussion.

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Why Re.?

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  • At Re., you’ll be in the hands of superbly skilled plastic surgeons who are at the top end of their profession.
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  • Members of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

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