Wisdom Teeth Extraction is hospital

Helllooooo.....

DH is having all 4 wisdom teeth out Friday. His teeth are so bad he has finally agreed. Anyway, he is having it done under GA and I know that dental work in the chair doesn't attracta medicare rebate, but does it when it is in hospital? I checked out the MBS online and the item number for his teeth showed a rebate but no real description of the service so can't be 100% sure it is for having wisdom teeth out...

TIA.

MG

P.S. I think the bill is going to hurt more than the extractions!!!!! And we hve to pay it all upfront!

Medicare should be able to tell you if you have item numbers give them a call at least that way you'll have a better idea if its covered or not.
I had mine all out under GA in hospital as well, but it was private, and I think the anaesthetists bill was the most expensive.
Has the hospital given you a quote with all of the information, if there are things they dont claim directly from medicare then they should be able to

He was only booked in this morning so the hospital won't have had time to attend to anything yet. I am a bit reluctant to call Medicare because I'll be on hold forever - which is why I looked up the MBS... just a shame the description is so poor! I do have to go to the shops later so might pop into medicare then... We're also going to a Private Hospital. The surgeon is going to be our expensive bit. The anethetist is only going to be about $500 up front and $200 out of pocket. The surgeon his $1200 up front and we'll get about $900 back! Eek! The hospital is $700 but we don't pay that - it foes direct to our insurer thank god! I'm trying to see if the anethetist is one I work with at work and going to see if he'll discount or at least give us no gap!

DH had a widom tooth removed last year a couple of weeks after DS was born.. I think we went to medicare to claim for something, might have been the surgeon's bill? I can't find the paperwork at the moment either, sorry..will try to find it later when/if DS decides to have a nap. We had to pay him up front too. They sent out the itemised receipt after the surgery as well. I also had trouble finding the numbers and if we were able to claim anything.

Nic

Thanks Nic. Glad I'm not the only one who had trouble finding out about rebates! Scary considering I used to work for them! Eek! I hope DS has a nap for you soon...

MG

Ok, I can't find any info in my filing from medicare, but did find a receipt from our PHI with the scheduled fee mentioned for the surgeon and anaethetist and some item codes. (they would be the medicare item codes and not codes used by our PHI would they?)
Anyway,

The surgeons item codes were D-016 and D-324. Both of them had $0 scheduled fee. So maybe we didn't get anything from medicare for him?
Anaethetist, (DH only had the one tooth out, so wasn't under for long)
M-17610 (Sch fee - 38.80)
M-22900 (Sch fee - 107.40)
M-23021 (Sch fee - 35.80)
They probably won't help you out much though sorry.
I can't find any of the receipts for DH. None of them at all! I can't even check medicare online as it's only me and DS and DD who I can check out online and not DH..Bummer MG, really sorry I couldn't help out any more than that :(

Nic

DH also needs 4 wisdoms out under a GA. we are putting it off until Nov when our PHI will cover some of it. Silly thing is that they have a per calander year limit, which might mean he will do half in Nov and the next half in 2010. And the PHI will have to now pay for 2x day stays and 2x anesthetists, where they could have avoided it if they let us combine it and get it all out of the way. But i have the codes somewhere, and PHI barely puts anything back towards it anyway - we will still be out of pocket i think around $2000 for it all. I didn't know you could get any back from medicare though. What item codes were you given?

Thanks Nic. That was really helpful! I guess Medicare don't pay anything back for in hospital then... except the anethetist fees...

Yael, I was given 324 as the code for the wisdom teeth from the surgeon. I guess we get nothing back? My PHI pays an ok amount. $135 per tooth when the fee is something like $320 per tooth. I'm told the anethetist is about $600 depending but I can expect to be about $200-$300 out of pocket. The hospital is $700 but our insurer covers all of that and they will bill directly. We have to pay the $1200 for the teeth upfront (at least the day before) and the anethetist on the day. DH is going to the Knox Surgicentre which is opposite Knox Private. We're going there because that is where our guy is operating on Friday and DH needs them out NOW! Poor guy is in such bad shape... Who are you seeing? Who is your insurer? We're with Defence Health. I'm hoping the anethetist will agree to no gap but I'm not holding my breath...

MG

MG, Oral surgeons are also medical physicians (they have three degrees!), that's why you can claim on their fees, but not other dentists.

As for the hospital stuff, that should just as it would be for any day surgery procedure.

Make sure he keeps up icing it (his face) once he's home, it really, really helps with the pain and swelling (which can be significant). And of course lots of soft foods. It's really important (as you would know) that he eats in the days afterwards, as it will really help his recovery. Good luck!

From what my surgeon told me, Medicare won't cover any gaps after private health rebate. But he could be wrong, I hope he is, lol.

Your rebates sound pretty good. I'm booked into getting my wisdom teeth out in May. Going through Private and will be out of pocket about 1400 all up. My health fund will only cover 400 of the 1400 surgeon bill, the anethetist will only be about 150 out of pocket and a 250 excess for the hospital bill. I'm not happy that the surgeon cover is so crap, but I looked at others and they all seem to be about the same. If you don't mind me asking, what insurer are you with??

Thanks Janie - I will print your post to prove to him it isn't just his wife being a "wife" - he forgets I'm a nurse! I'm stocking up on jelly, custard, fish, and mashed foods for him. And I'll do him some eggs if he is a nice boy ;)

Mel, I'm with Defence Health. We get up to $600 each for oralmaxillary surgery each year. Plus normal dental stuff. This comes out of a different allowance to other dental stuff like fillings and cleanings.

I'm almost certain that you cannot claim anything back bar the anethetists fee. I'm a public patient but had mine done privately by an oral surgeon and the anethetists fee was the only one I could claim. On an upside though if it costs in total more than $1500 out of you pocket you can claim it on your tax return but must keep all reciepts. HTH.

i agree with tiffanny... anethetists is the only thing medicare will help you with..
another up side.. it will push you closer to your safety net.. which is on a calander year, so you might start to get higher medicare rebates on all your other GP stuff..

I had to pay $2500 for my DD dental surgery last year, the anethetists put us over the safety net, and we were getting about $50 rebate per $55 for GP consult in the end.