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By Sue Dunlevy
The Daily Telegraph

OBSTETRICIANS have doubled their charges as they take advantage of the taxpayer-funded Medicare Safety Net to earn more than $1 million a year.

Medicare figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal obstetricians were charging on average $835 to manage a pregnancy in July 2004, which had almost doubled to $1535 by last year.

The figures reveal that in the past year alone obstetricians lifted fees by 20 per cent compared with just 5 per cent for other medical specialties.

The increase in charges helped turn obstetricians into millionaires with the highest earning 10 per cent of obstetricians now earning $1.8 million a year - $1.1 million of which comes from Medicare.

But a Federal Government attempt to try to cap further rises in these fees and save taxpayers $194 million was in danger of being blocked by the Senate.

Doctors were able to increase fees because the Medicare Safety Net introduced in 2004 meant mothers did not have to pay the fee rises.

Taxpayers instead picked up 80 per cent of the higher charges once the mother had spent more than $1100 a year on health fees.

Taxpayer funding for obstetrics leapt from $62 million in 2004 to $297.87 million in 2009.

The Government now wants to impose a cap on how much Medicare will refund under this scheme to try to control future fee increases by obstetricians.

"The Government is no longer prepared to provide a blank cheque to specialist doctors to allow them to increase fees and take advantage of a program designed to reduce costs for patients," Health Minister Nicola Roxon said yesterday.

Australian Medical Association president and obstetrician Dr Andrew Pesce conceded some of his colleagues took advantage of the Medicare Safety Net to raise fees.

"There are some doctors who were able to get more rebates through than colleagues doing exactly the same work because they worked in areas where patients could afford it," Dr Pesce said.

He said he warned the Federal Government about the problem five years ago and asked that obstetrics be removed from the Safety Net to solve the problem.

But he said the way the Government was trying to rein in costs would leave women giving birth from January up to $850 worse off if they use a private obstetrician to manage their pregnancy.

Currently Medicare pays rebates averaging $2386 that cover the planning and management of a pregnancy, antenatal visits and delivery of the baby.

Under Government cutbacks these rebates will drop to $1669.

The National Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists spokesman Dr David Molloy said the Government had set the new Medicare rebates for obstetrics at fee levels charged by the lowest charging 20 per cent of doctors.

He said fewer women would be worse off if the rebate was set at the higher average fee.

The Medicare Safety Net cost $414 million last year and 50 per cent of the money spent under the scheme went to obstetricians and IVF specialists.