Clamp down on existing relationship exemptions in telehealth rules, MBS Review suggests
A draft report recommends changes to telehealth items for pregnancy counselling and mental health care plans.
The MBS Review is suggesting scrapping Medicare’s telehealth items for smoking cessation and enforcing an existing relationship rule on the items for pregnancy counselling.
The existing relationship rule was introduced for most telehealth MBS items in mid-2020 amid a rise in online doctor services with limited interest in ongoing patient care.
It means MBS rebates for telehealth are restricted to patients who have seen the same GP or another GP at the same practice within the past 12 months.
But exemptions are made for telehealth items for mental health, pregnancy counselling, smoking cessation, bloodborne virus treatment and sexual health.
