‘Commonsense delay’ to assignment of benefit changes

The rollout of new laws designed to modernise the way patients assign their Medicare benefits to their treating health professionals has been pushed back to mid-2026.
 
The ‘assignment of benefit’ regulation has been earmarked for an overhaul since the widespread adoption of telehealth exposed legal holes in the requirement for patients to give a physical signature, allowing bulk-billing benefits to be paid directly to health providers.
 
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DoHDA) temporarily allowed verbal consent for telehealth consultations during the pandemic, but was strongly criticised in a 2023 Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report for a ‘failure to identify and manage legal risk’ involved in the move.
 
Following RACGP advocacy to modernise a process one GP labelled as ‘stuck in the 1970s’ and which the college described as ‘fundamentally flawed’, new laws for the assignment of benefit were scheduled to start on 9 January 2026.
 
However, an amendment approved last week has pushed that date back to 1 July 2026.
 
A memo explaining the delay noted that while legislation was being drafted, limitations were identified ‘that prevent regulations from fulfilling the intended scope and effectiveness of new assignment processes’.
 
It noted too that stakeholders want more time.
 
These include Dr Michael Bonning, Deputy Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Funding and Health System Reform, who has been directly involved in discussions with the DoHDA and called it a ‘commonsense delay’.
 
‘The Government’s initial plan to start a new administrative pathway on 9 January 2026 didn’t take into account the reality of general practice,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘Who has everyone on deck in their workplace to roll out a change that affects doctors, practice managers, nurses, and administrative staff?
 
‘Who could do the training and get everyone ready in the preceding three weeks?’
 
DoHDA notes that work is ongoing on regulations to support ‘bulk billed enduring assignment agreements’, designed to cut the number of times patients need to give consent.
 
It also promises processes for assigning bulk-billed Medicare services ‘will have more flexibility than under current laws’.
 
‘New digital options to assign benefits when booking a service are expected to be popular, with potential online- and web-based solutions,’ it states.
 
‘In-practice options will continue to be preferred by some, and paper forms can still be used if needed.’
 
Dr Bonning said the delay will support medical software providers to have a clear understanding of changes and put them in place ‘rather than a last-minute flurry of changes that would undermine GPs and how they practise’.
 
‘The profession has in-depth knowledge of the day-to-day processes of assignment of benefits and interacting with patients,’ he said.
 
‘We need to remain vigilant because the execution of this large piece of reform legislation needs to be enacted well.
 
‘It’s incumbent on the DoHDA to continue consultation with us as representatives of the profession, but also to engage in good faith, in a timely way, with the software providers, because they will be the bridge by which we have a workable and functional system.’
 
The issue surrounding assignment of benefits was first highlighted in newsGP in late 2022, when GPs expressed concern after Services Australia indicated that the verbal consent workaround in place for telehealth consultations was going to be withdrawn.
 
That was followed shortly afterwards by the publication of the ANAO report criticising the implementation of telehealth.
 
‘Public-facing guidance on the temporary policy did not clarify that notating verbal consent in provider records alone could not address other statutory requirements requiring a signed copy of the agreement to be provided to the patient,’ the ANAO stated.
 
‘The legal consequences of failing to observe such requirements can be severe.
 
‘Where a provider does not provide a copy of the signed agreement in an approved form to the patient, there is no legal basis for Services Australia to pay the benefit to the provider.
 
‘Additionally, providers can be criminally liable for failing to complete the agreement form properly.’
 
There was also significant pushback to an attempt by Services Australia to put in place a temporary solution by introducing a new form for GPs to complete allowing verbal consent.
 
The proposal was compared to a ‘script from Utopia’, and was widely criticised by GPs.

With legislation still in the pipeline, GPs are unlikely to face audits on the issue in the meantime.
 
‘Until a modernised assignment of benefit process is implemented, punitive action will not be taken unless it relates to fraudulent claims against Medicare,’ current MBS telehealth guidelines state.  
 
The RACGP will work with the DoHDA to inform members about the changes and their impact as the new implementation date approaches.
 
More information on the changes to the assignment of benefit process can be found on the DoHDA website.
 
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