• Nathaniel S Marshall, Stuart MacKay, Richard Gallagher, and Sam Robinson.
• Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Australia. nmarshall@med.usyd.edu.au
• Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 Mar 1; 142 (3 Suppl 1): S10-4.

ObjectiveTo describe the provision, through the Australian state-funded Medicare system, of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and its laser-assisted variation (LAUP) to the population of Australia between 1995 and 2007.Study DesignCase series using a comprehensive national administrative database.SettingThe Commonwealth of Australia.Subjects And MethodsSubjects comprised the population of Australia. The raw numbers of procedures, reimbursement amounts in Australian dollars, and per capita adjustment nationwide and in each state/territory for UPPP and LAUP for each calendar year from 1995 to 2007 were downloaded from a publicly accessible database run by Medicare.ResultsThe Australian federal government paid AUD 8.2 million for 19,534 UPPP procedures and AUD 1.1 million for 3270 LAUP procedures in the calendar years 1995 to 2007, inclusive. There is substantive variability between states in provision. Over time, provision of UPPP has declined slightly compared with population growth and overall Medicare provision. LAUP provision has declined markedly.ConclusionProvision of UPPP under Medicare in Australia has declined slowly relative to population growth and overall growth in Medicare per capita provision. Laser-assisted UPPP (LAUP) has steadily declined and is now rarely used compared with the peak in its provision in the mid 1990s.Copyright 2010 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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