Have doctor fees increased?

C

Cahir

Guest
I had to go to the doctor on Saturday for a routine small procedure. It cost €55. The last time I went for this procedure in June it cost €45 and the time before that in July 2002 it was €38. I didn't want to query it on Saturday as there were people in the waiting room and I didn't want them to know what I'd been there for.

Is there a standard pricing for doctors or are they allowed to charge what they want?

Just curious, not complaining!
 
Is there a standard pricing for doctors or are they allowed to charge what they want?
Click to expand...
Like most professionals, doctors will charge as much as the patient will pay.
 
GP Visits

Cahir, the doctor probably had to get a plumber in durning the week to do a smallish 2 day job. The plumber probably charged him about €6,000 for the materials and labour. The GP assumes his €45 fee is pretty cheap so ups it to €55 and if he can get away with it I wouldn't blame him. Go into your local supermarket. 4 croissants for a £1 previously, now 0.56c each!! Prices keep going up and the sky is the limit.

Have doctors fees increased? As a father with two small children - you bet they certainly have, but then everything else has as well.
 
Re: GP Visits

"The plumber probably charged him about €6,000 for the materials and labour. "

By the rates quoted above, I presume that's your slang word for a gynecoligist?
 
Re: GP Visits

I only found out recently that my GP charges E40 during the week and E43 for Saturday
 
Re: GP Visits

Doctor fees in my area have increased from 20 pounds to 40 euro in the past 3 years. Nice work if you can get it.
 
Re: GP Visits

Nice work if you can get it.
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Of course you can get it, Extopia. You just have to get exceptionally high Leaving Cert results, spend seven years in college, spend a few years working 75-100 hour weeks getting abused by drunks & drug addicts with all the security that 6-month contracts give you, get bullied by a few arrogant consultants, find a GP partnership willing to let you buy in (or start your own practice from scratch) etc etc etc.

Easy, ain't it?
 
Re: GP Visits

Well said RainyDay. We are fortunate enough to live in a country where the majority of people can access any profession that they want with a lot of discipline and sacrifice. Certainly would not begrudge them their rates as I see their work as a vocation and something that I would never wish to do myself. As with all things, shop around in your locality and you should get a reasonable market rate. Sure if we try and improve our diet and lifestyle we may reduce the cost of GP visits in the long term!!
 
Re: GP Visits

We (well my wife more so than me!) used a consultant gynaecologist last year for our new arrival. His fees had gone up from €1,300 to €1,800 from 2001 to 2002 - quite an increase. The Finance Act last year (I think) allowed routine maternity care fees as a tax deduction for the first time - effectively this consultant was using this as a basis for increasing his fees! Having said that we would have paid him twice that amount or more for the services rendered and the level of care given.
 
Re: GP Visits

......we paid our consultant as above, for 2 X 10min meetings and the birth (for which he wasn't present nor aware of!(we couldn't fit it in between 9 and 5)).

And no, we wouldn't have paid him twice!
 
GP Charges

Is there not the danger that certain less well off members of our society may, to their detriment postpone a visit their GP because of perceived expense?
 
Re: GP Charges

That danger certainly does exist, Noisette. Remember that the worst-off in society will have medical cards, so GP bills are not an issue for them.

Do you have any alternative proposals (bearing in mind that any proposal needs to be workable for both doctors & patients)?
 
GP Charges

Have some form of poverty measure Rainyday.

Those who are well off (can afford to meet their medical needs) can afford to pay the full whack.

Those less well off - who cannot afford basic health insurance but are not poor enough to qualify for a medical card would have a portion of the fees met by the Government.

On a side note, still don't fully understand why GP charges here are so high compared to our EU conterparts.
 
Low income

Rainyday

I suppose the issue of people not being to afford going to the doctor arises most for those on low to moderate incomes, not qualifying for medical card.

If you have two/three children and they get the usual ear infections etc in the winter, this could cost €120-140 in a single week to visit doctor. My experience is that kids never seem to get ill all at the same time (so one visit could cover all) but rather the illness travels around the family over a couple of weeks. I can see where there is a band of people who would and do put off going to the doctor when they shuld because of cost.

The solution, its not an easy one!
 
VHI fee + excess is the real cost of VHI.

Ever notice that you are always just below the Excess Threshold of VHI when you want to make a claim at the end of the year as well.
 
Medical Expenses

Well I've found a solution that works for me - I'm off up North...

Cheaper cost of living (cheaper food/clothes etc etc), and no medical expenses or dental expenses to worry about, as it's all covered by the NHS.

It's a pity we don't have something similar here, instead of charging people because they're sick.
 
GPs are con artists

I an one of those who now puts off going to the doc because of the price.
I have had the flu last year and suffer from asthma.
I didnt go to the doc because its too expensive.
I have to pay €45 every 6 months for prescriptions for my inhalers.

Here's My last experience.

It goes like this - Monday.
Me: Hi Doc. I nedd a new prescription.
Doc: Fine. scribble scribble - 30 seconds later - 'Thats €45 please'
Me: I also have a wart on my hand. I see you have that freezing stuff on your table can you zap it for me while i'm here?'
Doc: Make an appointment for tomorrow and i'll look after your wart.
Me: OK.

Tuesday:
Me: Hello, here's that wart i was telling you about yesterday.
Doc: Freezes it in about 30 seconds - 'Thats €45 please'
Me: But you told me to come back when i was here yesterday. I didn't think you were going to charge another €45 for another 30 secs work. If i'ld know that i would have got you to do it yesterday.
Doc: I don't do Warts on Mondays.
Me: Well obscenity removed by RainyDay too. I'm never coming back here again.

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How about an hourly rate for a doctors visit. Make sure they have to publish it then people can see how they are getting ripped off.
 
Re: GPs are con artists

I am not certain that you are really interested in the probable explanation because you seem to have made your mind up.

Most GPs have a specific day of the week when they do procedures. The flask you saw on your doctors desk on Monday was probably empty. Liquid nitrogen evaporates quickly and isn't permanantly kept in most practices or even most hospitals. It is usually delivered or collected once a week for immediate usage by a doctor. It is not free. It must be purchased by a doctor who has training in its use and who is insured for the possibility of adverse events.

By the way, I have never cursed at a patient. I think you will find most doctors don't. I wish I could say the same for the way our patients sometimes speak to us.
 
Re: GPs are con artists

Hi Hillary - Did you ever think about asking the prices in advance of getting the treatment, so you can avoid all that nasty confrontation?
 
Professional Fees

A Dubliner who emigrated to UK early 70's to get myself (a) an education and (b) work appropriate to my intelligence I sympathise with what's "between the lines" in this thread! My then 82-year-old widowed mother became frail and needy 3 years back. Happily she received wonderful medical care in a Dublin teaching hospital and for the last year of her life in a residential nursing home...funded by a lifetime of high contributions to VHI insurance!! Questions and discussions with medics concerned in her treatment were no problem (I work in the NHS in the UK and know what to ask) However when it came to Social Workers, nursing staff, GP's etc. they positively EXUDED disapproval of attempts to discuss their decisions and financial implications of my mother's care. One of the reasons I appreciate this Askaboutmoney forum is this reticence to discuss money and terms openly in Ireland. Now in my late 50's, having travellled widely and seen how other people approach money, this aspect of Irish culture still puzzles me. If I go to my GP with a potentially life-threatening condition (or even something trivial but anxiety-provoking) I want WHATEVER treatment is necessary to alleviate it. That's not a situations where one should have to haggle about how much it will cost and these are situations where not knowing the financial implications can add to the stress and the illness. It does not seem ethical that professionals in Ireland (it doesn't happen here in UK!!!) can ask for "what they think they can get". Apropos the arduous training of medics and what is being purported to be their low initial salary, we need to remember that all healthcare professionals are trained at the expense of the State, are provided with a job for life and excellent pension schemes as well as social status, and commit through the Hippocratic oath to serve, not to exploit, their patients and clients.
 
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