Grattan Institute finds some doctors charge up to triple the fees of their peers – well beyond what can be justified by business running costs

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More than 2.2 million Australians paid an “extreme” fee to see a specialist last year, with psychiatrists and paediatricians among the most likely to routinely unreasonably charge their patients, according to new research.

Specialists cannot justify exorbitant fees by blaming inadequate government rebates, or the costs of running a business, a report from policy thinktank the Grattan Institute found, as these factors explain only a fraction of the fee increases Australians have faced.