Obesity inquiry supports GP calls for chronic disease item
MBS rules need rewriting to clarify that obesity is a disease, select committee says
11th December 2018
A parliamentary inquiry says MBS rules need to be rewritten to allow GPs to claim chronic disease care plans for patients with obesity but no comorbidities.
The lack of guidelines from Medicare on whether it deems obesity a disease has been a longstanding source of angst for GPs.
Last year, an Australian Doctor survey revealed that half of GPs were not claiming the chronic disease items for managing their patients’