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Government defers CDM Medicare item changes
The concerns of GPs have been listened to, resulting in the Commonwealth delaying chronic disease management funding changes to 1 July next year.
The single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan MBS item won’t come into effect until the start of next financial year.
GPs have breathed a collective sigh of relief after the Federal Government announced it will defer controversial changes to Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items for chronic disease management (CDM) until next year.
The Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) revealed late on Wednesday that the initiative’s start date will be pushed back to 1 July 2025, eight months after its original planned date of 1 November this year.
‘The additional time will support all practices and providers, including GPs and allied health providers, to be ready for the changes to these important services,’ the DoHAC said.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins, who had written to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler about GPs’ concerns, says she is ‘pleased the Government has listened to GPs’, welcoming the delay.
‘You spoke, we listened, and you have been heard by Government,’ she told newsGP.
The decision comes following significant and mounting pressure from GPs and the RACGP to delay the move, with GPs growing increasingly concerned by the lack of funding details behind the CDM item.
As the original 1 November commencement date crept closer, GPs said they would have no option but to pass on costs to patients with chronic conditions, with little to no warning.
In a recent poll from newsGP, 69% of 1367 respondents said they would be unable to bulk bill chronic disease patients, if current CDM funding was cut.
GPs said it also prevented their practices from planning for the future, saying there were too many uncertainties.
Although all the details are still not locked in, Dr Higgins said the deferral will give time to work with the Government to ensure that GPs and their teams are appropriately remunerated.
Dr Higgins said the RACGP had taken the concerns of its members to the Federal Government and sought clarity over exactly how the funding will work moving forward.
‘What we do know is the Federal Government wants to encourage more reviews of care plans and reduce the red tape, which we also support,’ she said.
‘But we also need to know what the funding will be and to ensure that GPs, practices and our patients are not out of pocket for their chronic disease plans due to underfunding.’
Dr Higgins said she now looks forward to working with the Federal Government to ensure there is enough funding for patients living with chronic illness to get the care they need.
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bulk billing chronic conditions chronic disease care chronic disease management plan general practice funding MBS MBS items Medicare
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