November’s MBS changes are meant to be big, big news: What they mean for you
Increased bulk-billing incentives, a new higher rebate for 60 minute plus consultations, along with new items for phone calls and aged care are coming into…
Tag: MBS
MBS items for initial specialist consults conducted via video face the axe
Specialists will be prevented from claiming MBS items for initial consults via video under a crackdown suggested by the MBS Review Advisory Committee. The committee…
Clamp down on existing relationship exemptions in telehealth rules, MBS Review suggests
The MBS Review is suggesting scrapping Medicare’s telehealth items for smoking cessation and enforcing an existing relationship rule on the items for pregnancy counselling. The…
Why GPs should expect more cash for ‘frequent flyer’ patients
There is a revolutionary vision for the future of general practice. Yes, the specialty is cash-starved, withered by chronic workforce shortages, assailed by the spectre…
Bad oral health can lead to clinical horrors — so why has Medicare gone AWOL?
Back in 1977, my role as a hospital-based dentist was limited to repairing broken dentures, placing the odd temporary filling on a ward, and the…
Bulk-billing rate drops to 72% for face-to-face level B consults
The bulk-billing rate for the standard face-to-face GP consult has fallen from 80% to 72% in a year, show data from the Department of Health…
‘No strong evidence’ that video telehealth is better than phone calls: RACGP
Health officials should stop treating audio-only phone consults as an inferior form of telehealth, the RACGP says, claiming the stance “is not underpinned by strong…
Medicare heart checks will go on as ‘our best tool for preventing heart disease’: Butler
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…
GPs in the real world underbill more than they overservice, saving taxpayers $350m a year
Australia’s Medicare billing system is overly complicated, bureaucratic and not meeting the needs of a modern health service, potentially leaking billions of dollars. But claims…
Medicare rort claims overblown but mistakes cost $580 million a year, govt review says
Media headlines declaring doctors rort Medicare for $8 billion a year have no factual support, yet accidental non-compliance is costing taxpayers at least $580 million…
