Good article Bruce. Yes you've hit on a common problem with some not all medical practices. My example is a dentist who charged me $2500 for a small fill and crown. The office person had orally quoted $1300 (for the crown only - didn't mention the other parts of the while procedure).

There's a huge variation in fees from dentists and specialists so yes, shop around, and get written quotes. When I once requested this from a dentist's secretary she interrupted the conversation to answer the phone. This rude and pompous behavior is common in medical practices

It's not as bad as the 'medical mafia' in the US where my daughter paid $5600 (she made the mistake of choosing a plastic surgeon when given the option) for a 4 mm cut on her son's forehead which in Australia would have been taped by a nurse and the $70 cost covered by medicare. So the message is fight the Coalition attempts to get rid of our Medicare (i.e. vote them out) or we'll end up being ripped off by a health mafia here as in the US. But demand that greedy professionals don't rort medical insurance or indeed us.