The AMA this week recommended doctors lift fees by 3.9 percent from November 1, taking the association’s recommended charges for a standard consultation from $60 to $62.

Doctors at the Young Medical Centre currently charge $54 for a standard consultation.

Practice manager David Kay said before making any decision doctors would examine the new Medicare benefits schedule, and said the rebate needed to be increased significantly.

For instance the Medicare rebate on a standard $54 consultation charged at the practice was currently $32.80.

He said the practice would make a formal comment once the Medicare Benefits Schedule was published.

The Boorowa Street practice will also be assessing fee structures at this time.

Dr Peter Hamilton Gibbs said setting fees was always a difficult juggling act.

He said the Boorowa St doctors generally reviewed fees on an annual basis, and had absorbed costs over the past year, keeping fees for a standard consultation at $50.

He said the practice charged the Medicare rebate for disadvantaged people. “Sadly the Medicare rebate doesn’t cover the costs of running a practice and they are always way behind what you could expect to make a reasonable living.”

He said doctors didn’t work for the government and it had to be remembered that the Medicare rebate didn’t belong to the doctor, it belonged to the patient.