Four existing MBS health assessment items should be replaced with a single midlife assessment to reduce duplication and confusion, according to a review by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Uptake of the current assessments was found to be low. For example, just 1.2% of patients estimated to be eligible for a heart health assessment accessed one in 2022/23, while fewer than 10% of eligible patients aged 40-49 underwent a time-tiered health assessment for type 2 diabetes or chronic disease risk.

The review suggested ditching the items for menopause and perimenopause introduced last year, as well as the items for chronic disease risk, type 2 diabetes risk and the Heart Health Check.

The midlife assessment would then be conducted using existing time-tiered health assessment items.