How Much Will My Laparoscopy Cost?

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What is a laparoscopy?

How much does laparoscopic surgery cost?

Are there other out-of-pocket costs for laparoscopic surgery?

Are there other costs after a laparoscopy?

How long will I have to wait for my laparoscopic surgery?

What level of health insurance do I need for a laparoscopy?

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

Long story short

A laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgery to diagnose and treat abdominal or pelvic conditions

There are lots of types of laparoscopies, including appendectomies and hysterectomies.

The cost depends on whether you’re a public or private patient, and if you have health insurance

More complex and time-intensive laparoscopies can also be more expensive.

As a private patient, you might have a shorter wait for your laparoscopy

Other benefits include choosing your doctor and possibly having a private room.

What is a laparoscopy?

A laparoscopy is a type of keyhole surgery. A surgeon makes small incisions into your abdomen or pelvis, then pops a laparoscope inside to see what’s happening in there. Depending on the circumstances, your doctors might also use other instruments to treat your condition at the same time. This is far less invasive than traditional surgeries using large cuts.

Laparoscopies can help find the cause of symptoms like abdominal or pelvic pain, painful or heavy periods, and female infertility. 

Types of laparoscopic surgeries include hysterectomies, appendectomies, and removing endometrial tissue. 

How much does laparoscopic surgery cost?

Laparoscopic surgeries are used for a lot of different purposes, so the costs involved can be quite different. For instance, the complexity of the surgery and the time involved are factors. Whether you have your laparoscopy as a public or private patient also plays a role in what your bill looks like. 

If you’re a public patient, Medicare will handle the costs.  

As a private patient, Medicare gives you a hand too. It pays for 75% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee. If you have appropriate private health insurance, your insurer pays the other 25%. Where things can get confusing is that doctors can charge more than the MBS fee. So, this ‘gap’ between the MBS fee and your doctor’s fee could be your responsibility to pay.  

It’s not guaranteed you’ll have a gap payment to deal with – your health insurer might have an agreement with your treating doctor to cover their costs. You can also check if you’ll have a gap by looking through your hospital cover policy documents or speaking with your private health insurance fund. 

Even if you do have out-of-pocket costs, you might prefer to have your laparoscopy as a private patient. After all, there are benefits to going private. For instance, you can pick your treating doctor – you might like to choose someone who comes recommended from friends and family, or is highly regarded in their field. Additionally, you might get seen sooner than in the public system. If your symptoms (or concerns about them) are seriously affecting your life, you might really appreciate a shorter wait. 

The table shows the typical specialist fees for private laparoscopies in 2023–24, including the gap patients typically had. 

Typical laparoscopy costs for private patients in 2023–24

Source: Medical Costs Finder – Laparoscopy 

Note: These are the amounts patients typically paid for these services, rounded to the nearest dollar. The paid amounts do not add up to the total typical specialist fees as dollar amounts are the medians for that dataset only. They do not include hospital payments such as excesses, co-payments, or other payments. These fees may vary depending on your situation. Not all patients had out-of-pocket costs; those who didn’t aren’t included in these figures. Data retrieved August 2025. 

‘When I was 16, I had a laparoscopy to remove my appendix. As I was a private patient, I had a private room to recover in overnight. While I didn’t get a perfect night’s sleep – I woke up a few times as a nurse checked my vitals and, at one point, asked to borrow the trashy mag I had on my bedside table – it made my first hospital experience a little less scary. It also set a pretty high benchmark for any future hospital stays!’

Madeline Pettet
Digital Writer

Are there other out-of-pocket costs for laparoscopic surgery?

If you’re a private patient, you may also have an excess. This is a fee you’ll need to pay upon admission to hospital. Your policy documents will list what this amount is and how often you’ll need to pay it.  

Similarly, you may have a co-payment fee. Like an excess, you’ll only need to pay it when you go to hospital. The difference is, this fee is paid for every day you’re in hospital. Handily, most laparoscopies are day surgeries, but sometimes you might need to stay a night or two. If you’d like to know how many pairs of undies to pack, you could always check with your doctor ahead of surgery. 

Are there other costs after a laparoscopy?

You might have further costs after your laparoscopy – it depends on what the procedure was for. For instance, if your laparoscopy was to diagnose endometriosis, you may need further treatment to affected tissue or medication to help manage the condition. 

Additionally, laparoscopies have a small risk of complications, like infections, damage to your organs, and blood clots in your legs and lungs. So, if you were one of the few people who do have complications, you’d likely need further treatment to deal with these issues.  

Often, though, following your doctor’s orders to take it easy is all you need to worry about post-surgery.  

How long will I have to wait for my laparoscopic surgery?

The chance of a shorter wait for elective surgery is one reason many people have private health insurance. In the case of a laparoscopies, you might even skip waiting around an extra month. Back in 2023–24, the median wait for a laparoscopy at a public hospital for a private patient was 34 days. Public patients had a median wait of almost twice that (71 days).¹Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Admitted patient care 2023–24: What procedures were performed?

Of course, if you’re intending to use your private health insurance, you’ll need to have served your waiting periods. For hospital cover, your maximum waiting period is two months – assuming you’re not being treated for a pre-existing condition. If your laparoscopy is for a condition you had prior to taking out a hospital policy, your maximum wait is a year. 

What level of health insurance do I need for a laparoscopy?

Laparoscopies are used for lots of different conditions, as well as checking in on various parts of your body. As a result, there are a few different clinical categories in hospital cover that can include laparoscopies. For instance, the gynaecology category includes laparoscopic procedures for endometriosis, while the hernia and appendix category, unsurprisingly, covers laparoscopic appendectomies. 

Conveniently, when it comes to your abdomen – the domain of the laparoscopy – bronze cover policies, as standard, include the majority of relevant clinical categories. 

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

With so many use cases, a laparoscopy could be something you need in the future. If you’d like the option of going private with an insurer helping you manage the costs, iSelect can help. We make comparing a range of health insurance options from different insurers easy. All you need to do is call 1800 784 772 and speak with one of our friendly health comparison experts. Alternatively, you can use our handy online comparison tool.