Fixed-fee surgery

Planned with care ꟷ for patients without medical aid.

Making life better is at the heart of everything we do, including making private healthcare more accessible. Our fixed-fee surgery offering allows private patients to access planned high-quality surgical care at a predictable and affordable cost – allowing you to budget accordingly and ensuring peace of mind before your admission.

By removing uncertainty of variable fees and unexpected costs, we are helping more patients plan and access the care they need.

A single fixed hospital price is available for selected planned surgical procedures at all Life Healthcare hospitals.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

What is a fixed fee?

A fixed fee is a once-off, upfront hospital charge for a planned surgical procedure. It covers the core hospital services for your stay – so you know your costs  before you are admitted.

What is included and excluded

Included:

• Hospital stay (for a specified number of calendar days)
• Nursing care
• Theatre time
• Standard ward and theatre consumables
• In‑hospital medication related to the procedure

Not Included:

These costs are billed separately:

• Surgeon and anaesthetist fees (these are independent doctors who do not work for Life Healthcare and bill separately.)
• Radiology, such as X‑rays, CT, MRI
• Pathology, such as blood work, biopsies, labs
• Prosthetic devices or implants
• Mobility aids, such as crutches, braces, wheelchairs
• Take‑home medication

Take note of the following:

Length-of-stay (LOS-cap) and extra-day fees

• Fixed‑fee procedures include a set length‑of‑stay (LOS) cap - the standard number of calendar days required in hospital for your procedure.
• If you stay longer than the cap, a fixed daily fee will apply for each additional day.

Important: Patients should obtain separate quotes directly from their specialists and anaesthetists for the doctor portion of care.

Explore your options:

• View available fixed-fee procedures here.
• Find a hospital and the specialists affiliated with the hospital, here.

How it works – Step-by-step:

Step 1: Visit a GP who will refer you to a specialist or contact the specialist’s rooms directly

• Choose a Life Healthcare affiliated specialist, or ask your GP to refer you to one.
• Your Life Healthcare affiliated specialist must complete and sign a referral letter confirming you are clinically fit for surgery.
• Request a separate quote from your specialist’s rooms so that you can combine it with your Life Healthcare hospital quote to understand the total cost of care.
• Read and understand the Life Healthcare terms and conditions here.

Step 2: Receive a cost estimate

Once we receive the signed referral letter from your specialist, we will prepare a cost estimate for you.

• The cost estimate outlines the expected hospital costs for your procedure.

Step 3: Accepting the cost estimate

• After you accept your cost estimate, we will schedule your surgery date.

Step 4: Pre‑admission and upfront payment

• Complete your pre-admission using our online pre-admission portal, here.
• Please note: Full payment, as per your cost estimate, is required upfront before your admission.

Step 5: Receive care with no unexpected hospital fees

• Your hospital cost is fixed for your stay, as outlined in your cost estimate.
• Specialists, surgeons and anaesthetists will bill you separately. Make sure you understand their fees upfront.