Patient ‘enrolment’ fee revealed, but GPs may have to wait to claim it
GPs will have access to Medicare cash for registering eligible patients and providing ongoing care.
The Federal Government’s patient registration scheme for general practice will offer an additional $156 a year for doctors to provide flexible care for every patient they sign up.
Details of the reforms have been circulating for some time and are being sold as a significant policy step to fund comprehensive care.
Due to start in July, the scheme will see GPs offered Medicare money to sign up patients aged 70 or over, and in the case of Indigenous patients, those aged 50 and over.
Eligible patients will have the option of registering with their GP to receive quarterly payments which are designed to fund non-face-to-face care, such as telehealth for scripts and referrals.
