Medicare heart checks will go on as ‘our best tool for preventing heart disease’: Butler
The RACGP argued the MBS items should be scrapped.
The Federal Government has backed Medicare items for heart health checks, announcing they will be funded until 2025 despite opposition from the RACGP.
MBS items 699 and 177 were introduced in 2019 after a campaign by the National Heart Foundation of Australia and The Daily Telegraph newspaper but were scheduled to expire next month.
The assessment items are rebated at $76.95 and $61.55, for GPs and other medical practitioners respectively, and can be claimed for patients aged 45 and above or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients aged 30 and above.
The controversy stems from the rebates and time structures being the same as a level C consultation, meaning GPs have little reason to bill one over the other.
