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Government extends Medicare subsidies for telehealth until March 2021
The RACGP has welcomed the decision, while urging GP involvement in a more long-term plan.
The RACGP has welcomed the extension and wants to ensure Medicare-subsidised telehealth services are available for years to come.
The Federal Government has announced the Medicare subsidies will be extended to 31 March 2021, after they were due to expire on 30 September.
The move comes after the Federal Government earlier this year heeded the RACGP’s calls to expand Medicare-subsidised telehealth to all Australians, in what Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd described at the time as ‘one of the most significant changes we’ve seen in Australian general practice in my working lifetime of 35 years’.
The changes, for which the RACGP strongly advocated, include:
- no requirement to bulk bill any patients
- continuation of both telephone and video consultations.
The RACGP also understands the double bulk-billing incentive will be removed as part of the extension.
The college has welcomed the news, though it has called for significant GP involvement in a long-term plan.
‘We are thankful that the Government has listened to the RACGP and extended these Medicare telehealth subsidies,’ Acting RACGP President Associate Professor Ayman Shenouda said.
‘The extension to March next year is welcome, but the strong demand for telehealth means that these services will be needed beyond then. These services are flexible, convenient and, in many cases, the most efficient way of providing patient care.
‘We can’t return to the situation where patients are forced to physically sit in front of their GP before they can get a Medicare subsidy.
‘We need to ensure that Medicare-subsidised telehealth services are available for patients for years to come.
‘The RACGP expects that GPs will be consulted and significantly involved in the development of what comes next. Nearly all GPs have altered how they operate and embraced telehealth services to care for patients, so it’s vital that we are a key part of the process.’
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt called extended telehealth a ‘revolution in health delivery’.
‘It was borne from necessity but it's delivered better health care for over 30 million consultations so far,’ he said.
The extension of telehealth subsidies
is part of a $2 billion Government package designed to shore up COVID-19 health measures during the pandemic.
‘There will be support for home medicine delivery, continued free COVID-19 pathology tests, as well as further personal protective equipment, respiratory clinics and the state and private hospital partnership agreement,’ Minister Hunt he said.
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