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.