Patients' out-of-pocket spending on Medicare services 2016–17

The proportion of patients with out-of-pocket costs for imaging tests was 5 times higher in some PHNs than others

The median out-of-pocket cost per specialist visit ranged from $36 to $97 across local areas (for patients with costs)

The median out-of-pocket cost per obstetric visit (for patients with costs) was 10 times higher in some PHNs than others

Patients in metropolitan PHN areas were less likely to have out-of-pocket costs than patients in regional PHN areas