Patients affected by floods or bushfires will be exempt from Medicare’s existing relationship rules for telehealth, as long an ‘emergency declaration’ has been issued, federal health officials say.

Under the current rules, patients can only claim rebates for telehealth care if they have seen the GP, or another GP at the same practice, within the last 12 months.

The Federal Department of Health introduced temporary exemptions for patients caught in the NSW and Queensland floods earlier this year.

However, updated guidelines published in June, say an emergency declaration from state and territory governments for any natural disaster will trigger the exemption for patients in the affected local government areas.