How Much Does an Endoscopy Cost?

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What is an endoscopy?

How much will my endoscopy cost?

Are there out-of-pocket costs for an endoscopy?

Will I have to serve any waiting periods for an endoscopy through private health insurance?

What level of private health insurance do I need to cover an endoscopy?

Where can I find and compare private health insurance?

Long story short

An endoscopy is a procedure to put a camera inside your body to see what’s happening

There are many types of endoscopies, including colonoscopies, gastroscopies, and arthroscopies.

Whether you go public or private will change how much your endoscopy costs

As a private patient, you’ll likely have out-of-pocket costs but enjoy some benefits too.

Private hospital cover can include endoscopies, but not every policy will cover them

However, most of the more common types of endoscopies are usually covered under a bronze hospital policy.

What is an endoscopy?

Before we can break out the figures and dollar signs, it’s important to clarify that an endoscopy isn’t just one kind of procedure. In fact, an endoscopy is simply when a doctor uses a small camera on the end of a thin flexible tube to look inside your body. If you thought phone cameras had gotten super advanced, it turns out Apple and Samsung still have some ground to cover! 

Endoscopies make diagnosing you a little easier, whether it’s through providing real-time images of your internals or taking small samples of tissue to biopsy. As a result, endoscopies can often help diagnose conditions like Crohn’s disease, coeliac disease, endometriosis, and ovarian cysts, along with lots of other conditions. 

They can help to treat conditions, too, like removing tumours or foreign bodies, or placing stents in blockages. 

Endoscopies are an obvious win for technology, since they can be an alternative to undergoing major surgery. And that means a shorter hospital stay and recovery time for you, along with a reduced risk of complications. While an endoscopy might not be the most pleasant or appealing procedure, it has a lot to recommend it too.

Helpful tip

How do you tell endoscopies apart? Well, they often have names that refer to the part of the body they’re used to examine and treat. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to learn some Latin, becoming an endoscopy-identifying whiz could be it. Not to mention, getting familiar with this ancestor of the English language could seriously help with your Scrabble and Wordle scores.

Andres Gutierrez

General Manager – Health

Some common types of endoscopies

Arthroscopy (joints)  

Bronchoscopy (airway and lungs)  

Colonoscopy (large bowel) 

Cystoscopy (bladder) 

Duodenoscopy (bile and pancreatic ducts) 

Gastroscopy (oesophagus and stomach)

Hysteroscopy (uterus) 

Laparoscopy (abdomen and pelvis) 

How much will my endoscopy cost?

In the public system, doctors stick to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee – that’s the amount the government will pay as a Medicare rebate, whether it’s in full or as a percentage depends on the service.  

FYI, the MBS fee doesn’t always reflect the real cost of providing the service. This is why doctors in the private system may charge a different fee to help ensure that they and their staff are paid appropriately for their work, skills, and expertise.  

Complicating things further, the wide variety of endoscopies also means there is a variety of MBS fees and typical private specialist fees.  

The graph shows the MBS fees and the typical private patient specialist fees for a selection of in-hospital endoscopy procedures in 2023–24. 

Are there out-of-pocket costs for an endoscopy?

Depending on whether you’re a public or private patient, you may have out-of-pockets for your endoscopy. 

If you have your endoscopy at a public hospital as a public patient, Medicare will cover the costs – woohoo!   

It gets a bit more nuanced when it comes to private patients, though. If your policy includes endoscopies, then your private health insurance could help cover things like theatre costs and hospital accommodation.  

Your insurer will cover at least 25% of your MBS fee for the doctor’s service, while Medicare covers the remaining 75%. 

This is where things get tricky and those out-of-pocket costs can pop up. Remember, doctors can charge more than the MBS fee, so, 100% of the MBS fee might not equal 100% of the doctor’s bill. What’s leftover is known as the ‘gap’. 

Health insurers make agreements with hospitals and providers to give their members a little more clarity around gaps. They might have a deal that means you don’t have a gap, or at least you know what it’ll be ahead of time (often referred to as a ‘known gap’). 

You can get ahead of any gap or known gap payments by checking who has an agreement with your insurer before you book in for your endoscopy.  

Putting the gap to one side, you may also have out-of-pocket costs in the form of an excess or co-payments. It depends on your policy. Excesses and co-payments can help make your health insurance more affordable, bringing your premium down a little. 

Don’t forget, though, being a private patient comes with some attractive benefits. This can include getting to pick your doctor and hospital. Doing so can help you feel more comfortable with the procedure, for instance, if you book in with a doctor recommended by a friend.  

As a private patient, you might also get to skip a lot of the waiting around for your admission that you might otherwise have as a public patient. You may even be able to pick the day of your procedure to better line up with your schedule and anything else (and more fun) you have planned. 

The graphs show the typical out-of-pocket costs private patients had in 2023–24 for a selection of endoscopies, as well as what percentage of private patients had out-of-pocket costs. 

Will I have to serve any waiting periods for an endoscopy through private health insurance?

When you take out health insurance or upgrade to a policy with greater cover, waiting periods apply. In the case of endoscopies and hospital cover, the maximum waiting period is usually just two months. The exception is when the cover is related to a pre-existing condition, or pregnancy or birth. In those instances, your waiting period will be 12 months. 

What level of private health insurance do I need to cover an endoscopy?

Hospital cover has set tiers, with each progressive tier covering more procedures. To keep things tidy, clinical categories group different procedures together. Think of it like how Netflix organises movies and TV shows by genre. 

It’s these clinical categories that will help you figure out if your particular endoscopy is covered or not by your policy. Rather than whether you’re more of a rom-com lover or a horror buff, in this instance you’ll need to take into account the part of the body the endoscopy is focusing on. If the endoscopy is only for diagnosis or is for treatment can also matter. 

The table shows which clinical categories a selection of endoscopies fall under, and the minimum level of hospital cover you’d typically need to have for them to be guaranteed included and unrestricted on a policy.  Keep in mind though, that some lower-tier plus products may still include certain types of endoscopies; it just isn’t guaranteed.

Note: For a specific endoscopy procedure, refer to Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – Private Health Insurance clinical category classification 1 July 2025 

Where can I find and compare private health insurance?

Endoscopies are a useful tool to help understand why you might be having certain health concerns, so you can set about treating the underlying condition. However, they aren’t the only way to look after your health. That’s why health insurance policies can, and do, cover a lot more.

With iSelect, you can fast-track your health insurance comparison journey. We make it easy to compare a range of health insurance options, whether you prefer to use our online comparison tool or to speak with one of our health comparison experts on 1800 784 772.