Upper Blepharoplasty (Upper Eyelid Surgery) Cost in Newcastle NSW
What upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) costs
Upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) in my practice costs approximately $13,500 including GST when it is performed as a cosmetic procedure. That figure covers surgery on both upper eyelids under general anaesthesia at Maitland Private Hospital as a day procedure, both consultations, and all standard follow-up.
My surgical fee is $5,489 including GST. The balance is made up of the anaesthetist’s fee, the hospital theatre charge, the day stay, and consumables. Each of these is quoted separately by the provider concerned, so the anaesthetist and hospital components are approximate until you hold their written quotes.
There are two cost pathways for this operation, because a Medicare item number can apply to it in defined circumstances.
Cosmetic pathway
Where the surgery does not meet the Medicare criteria, it is a cosmetic procedure. There is no Medicare rebate, no private health fund contribution, and GST applies to every component. The figure above is this pathway.
Medicare item pathway
Where the criteria for MBS item 45617 are met and documented, a Medicare rebate applies to my fee, and private hospital cover may contribute to the hospital and anaesthetist components. The operation and my surgical fee are the same. What changes is the rebate, any fund contribution, and the hospital’s theatre rate, which is lower where an item number applies. The rebate and fund contribution depend on your fund, your policy and your excess. For that reason I do not publish an out-of-pocket figure for this pathway. Your written quote sets it out once the claiming position is confirmed.
Which pathway applies is decided at consultation, against the item criteria, not in advance.
I am Dr Bernard Beldholm, Specialist Surgeon and Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and I have performed cosmetic surgery of the face and neck for more than 15 years. I operate at Maitland Private Hospital in the Hunter Valley and see patients from Newcastle, the Hunter and regional NSW.
Book your appointment online now
Whether Medicare applies to upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery)
Medicare does not pay benefits for cosmetic surgery. It pays a benefit for upper eyelid reduction only where the surgery meets the criteria for MBS item 45617 and the clinical need is documented.
For most people who ask me about this, the relevant criterion is vision. Excess upper eyelid skin is a normal change with age. In some people the skin comes to rest over the lashes and narrows the upper part of the visual field. The item requires a history of demonstrated visual impairment, with photographic or diagnostic evidence recorded in the notes. The explanatory note is specific: clear photographs of the eyelid skin resting over the lashes in a relaxed, straight-ahead gaze, with the resulting obstruction of the visual field.
The item also covers a small number of other situations, including herniation of orbital fat in exophthalmos, facial nerve palsy, post-traumatic scarring, intertriginous inflammation of the eyelid, and surgery on the other upper eyelid to match one operated on for any of those reasons. These are less common in my practice.
At consultation I assess the upper lids, the position of the brows, and eye health, and I take standardised photographs. Where the history suggests the skin may be interfering with vision, the assessment includes the visual field. If the criteria are met and documented, the item pathway applies. If they are not, the surgery is cosmetic and the cosmetic figure at the top of this page applies.
A few points on the item pathway:
Services Australia publishes the current item description and criteria. If they change before your surgery, the current version applies.
What my fee includes
My surgical fee for upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) is the same whichever cost pathway applies. It includes:
The anaesthetist and Maitland Private Hospital bill separately from me and set their own charges.
What makes up your total cost
Your total for upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) is made up of separate charges:
On the cosmetic pathway, GST is charged on all of these and the hospital applies its cosmetic theatre rate. On the Medicare item pathway, the rebate and any health fund contribution are set out on each provider’s quote.
One assessment finding changes the plan rather than the figure. Some of the skin resting on the upper lid comes from the position of the brow, not the lid itself. Where that is the case, removing lid skin alone can pull the brow lower. At consultation I assess both. If a brow lift (browplasty) is indicated instead of, or as well as, upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery), that is a separate operation with its own figure on the brow lift (browplasty) cost page, and I only combine the two where each is indicated in its own right.
Book your appointment online now
Your next step
You need a referral from your GP before I can see you. One referral covers the consultation, the operation and follow-up.
The first consultation is at my rooms in Maitland and takes about an hour. If you live some distance away, it can be done by telehealth, but I need to examine you in person before surgery. For upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) that examination matters more than usual: the lids, the brows, eye health and the visual field are assessed and photographed, and that record is what decides which cost pathway applies.
After the consultation, my patient coordinator organises your written quote from me, together with the separate quotes from the anaesthetist and Maitland Private Hospital. Where the Medicare item applies, each quote shows the rebate and any health fund contribution against that provider’s fee.
For more on the operation itself, see my upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) service page. For how Medicare and health funds treat eyelid surgery across Australia, see my article on upper blepharoplasty (upper eyelid surgery) cost and Medicare in Australia.