Australian private health insurers have been permitted to provide gap cover since mid-2000. Some 89 per cent of medical treatment in hospitals is now provided without patients having to pay gap fees, compared with 65 per cent in 2000. Nevertheless, the Private health insurance Administrative Council has noted that many medical practitioners still impose gap fees, including orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthetists and plastic surgeons. In some cases, the gap fee exceeds $A2,000.