MBS committee chair wants level C rebates for GP spirometry
Medicare rebates for the tests were lifted last year but are still too low, says Professor Christine Jenkins
A leading respiratory physician on the MBS Review Taskforce says rebates for spirometry need to increase to the same as a level C to boost low testing rates.
Last November, the Federal Government created a new Medicare item, with a rebate of $35.50 for practice-based spirometry to confirm the diagnosis of asthma or COPD.
The reform was a response to analysis from the task force, which found the existing rebate of $17.80 failed to cover the time involved.
But rebates are still too low, says the chair of the taskforce’s thoracic medicine committee, Professor Christine Jenkins.
