Psychiatrists and paediatricians among specialists most likely to charge ‘extreme’ fees, thinktank finds

A recent report by the Grattan Institute reveals that psychiatrists and paediatricians are among the specialists most likely to charge "extreme" fees, which are at least triple the official Medicare schedule fee. The report, titled "Out of control – how to rein in runaway specialist fees," found that over 2.2 million Australians paid an extreme fee to see a specialist last year.

While the report acknowledges that factors like inadequate government rebates and business running costs contribute to fee increases, these factors only explain a small portion of the fee hikes. In fact, specialists increased patient fees by an average of $37 over the period from 2012 to 2025, more than four times the amount of the lost subsidy due to falling Medicare rebates.

The report recommends that the government force specialists whose annual fees average more than three times the Medicare schedule fee to repay the government for all rebates claimed that year, with patients keeping their rebate.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Guardian's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.