The 50% loading on Medicare rebates for telehealth in rural areas will return on 1 November, the Federal Government has announced.  

Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler said the decision to reinstate MBS item 288 would help fund 410,000 consultations over four years at a budget cost of $47.7 million. 

The item was scrapped at the end of 2021 by the previous government, despite objections from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).

RANZCP president Associate Professor Vinay Lakra welcomed Monday’s announcement that the item would return, saying he hoped it would herald wider Medicare changes to support telehealth.