Payment and Cost
Medicare rebatable testing is available for certain situations when testing in genetic epilepsy. Out-of-pocket fees will often be covered by the hospital or health service if the patient is being seen through the public health service, although this will vary between services and states.
Costs are subject to change (usually becoming cheaper) and are laboratory dependent. We advise that individuals seek advice from their medical practitioner or local genetics service about current costs if the preference is to pay for a test privately.
Medicare covers the following tests with requirements. If Medicare does not cover the individual patient case, options for fee coverage should be discussed with the ordering clinician:
- Chromosomal Microarray (also known as Array, CGH, SNP array): Medicare rebate (with referral requirements to be met)
- Fragile X PCR: Medicare rebate (with referral requirements to be met)
- Urine Metabolic Screen: Medicare rebate in some states/territories (with referral requirements to be met)
- Gene Panel / Exome / Whole Genome Sequencing: Medicare rebate (see here for criteria)