Billing Changes for Aged Pensioners & DVA White Card holders.
Billing Changes for Aged Pensioners & DVA White Card holders.
Due to increasing costs and without adequate increases in Medicare rebates, we unfortunately can no longer continue to bulk bill Aged Pensioners on a routine basis.
As of January 1st, 2023, we will start charging private fees for appointments for aged pensioners, but at a discounted rate of about $35 out of pocket. Please click here for further details.
Biopsies for pensioners will continue to have no out of pocket cost, but procedures for treatment of skin cancers will attract a discounted procedure fee with a gap. We will submit your claim to Medicare and you usually receive your rebate in your bank account within 24-48 hours.
Our billing for DVA White Card holders will also change. If the accounts for DVA White Card holders are covered by DVA then there will be no out of pocket cost. For those patients for whom DVA does not cover Skin Cancer as a listed condition, usual practice fees will apply.
DVA Gold card holders will continue to be covered in full by DVA.
Skin Cancer Awareness - Lesion 3
This is the third in a series of images aimed at raising awareness of skin cancer. We will present photographs of actual patients from Central Perth Skin Clinic who have been diagnosed with a skin cancer. In doing so, we hope that it will show various different skin cancers and how they can present. We will only publish photographs from patients who have provided consent.
Lesion 03 – Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
This spot was found on the chest of a 50 year old male on a routine skin check. It is a fairly classic Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) with some pigmentation present. This lesion was successfully treated here at Central Perth Skin Clinic.
BCC is the most common type of skin cancer in Australia. It is quite different to melanoma. BCCs are often slow growing and found on sun damaged skin, particularly on the head and neck. They usually present as a pink patch or lump on the skin that may have developed over weeks to months. They may have pigment in them as in the case of this lesion, and they can bleed easily or develop an ulcer on the surface. Sometimes they are very subtle and people are not aware of them until found during a skin check. Other times people think they are just a sore or pimple that isn’t healing up or is “coming and going”.
If you have anything like this on the skin then you should get it checked.
