Are you breaking this Medicare bulk-billing rule?
The Department of Health says GPs must legally ensure telehealth patients consent to 'assign their benefit' when being bulk-billed
There are calls for a review of Medicare’s rule that says all patients must sign a form or provide explicit consent before they can be legally bulk-billed.
Usually viewed as a legal technicality, the issue has come up after Department of Health officials posted a memo on the MBS Online website this month warning that the requirement applied to all Medicare services, including telehealth.
Under the system, bulk-billed patients “assign their right” to the Medicare rebate over to their doctor.
They can do this by signing a Services Australia DB020 form, outlining each MBS item claimed along with a description of the care provided, or by swiping their Medicare card and pressing the ‘OK’ or ‘YES’ button on the practice EFTPOS terminal.
