‘Unanimous’ backing for MBS child development check

An influential group tasked with advising the Federal Government’s upcoming Thriving Kids initiative has backed plans to introduce a Medicare-funded child development check for three-year-olds.
 
The recommendation comes as part of a proposed model of care set out in the Thriving Kids Advisory Group report, which was published on Tuesday.
 
It follows an agreement at National Cabinet, with the Federal Government committing $2 billion, a sum matched by states and territories, for the program, which is aimed at children aged eight years and under with developmental delay or autism, and low-to-moderate support needs.
 
The advisory group report said a one-off Medicare-funded assessment could help identify developmental delay as well as neurodevelopmental differences in children.
 
‘The health and development check could be undertaken by GPs, child and family health nurses, practice nurses or nurse practitioners,’ it states.
 
‘This would provide another opportunity to deliver health and developmental checks for children that is nationally consistent and ensures increased early identification.’
 
RACGP Specific Interests Child and Young Person’s Health Chair Dr Tim Jones, who sits on the advisory group, said the recommendation was ‘unanimous’.
 
He added that the recommendation signals support ‘across the board’ for the checks, with a recent Parliamentary Inquiry report also calling for their introduction.
 
‘I’m really optimistic that this is a way of getting it right and making sure that families get what they need in a more timely fashion than we’ve currently been able to deliver,’ Dr Jones told newsGP.
 
‘The big pivot for us as health professionals … is away from needing to make a rapid diagnosis into being able to identify what needs might be there and figuring out how to use our systems to support families to access those.
 
‘The consequences of not providing the right supports to families can be very devastating.’
 
Dr Jones also flagged more support could be on the way for GPs ahead of the introduction of a new MBS item, which he anticipates will be put in place in November this year.
 
‘We know that across our GP members, there may be varying levels of comfort with child development and family engagement so at the college we’re really looking into what support we can provide to members,’ he said.
 
‘We’ll make sure that we have lots of that available with plenty of lead time before these new items potentially come in and we’re working with them.’
 
Federal Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler said the measures set out in the report will help address ‘alarming’ numbers of children enrolled in the NDIS, many of them for developmental delays and autism.
 
‘In some parts of the country as high as one in four primary age boys had been enrolled onto the NDIS, a scheme that was obviously designed for significant, and permanent, usually lifelong disability,’ he said.
 
Minister Butler said the model of care is based around four principles: raising awareness and early identification of children with developmental issues, providing ready access to information, building the skills of parents, and providing access to targeted support.
 
‘The thing people have complained most about the operation of the NDIS for this cohort is the time it takes to get a diagnosis, the need for a formal diagnosis which can take years to access and cost thousands of dollars, before parents are given any support for their children,’ he said.
 
‘This will be easy to access, it won’t require a formal diagnosis.’
 
The advisory group recommends the introduction of health checks be ‘consistent’ with existing time-tiered health assessments.
 
Its report states that there is ‘no guarantee’ the health check will be bulk billed but notes that health assessment items ‘generally have very high levels of bulk billing (99.0% in 2024–25)’.
 
They also note that health assessment items can be claimed with bulk-billing incentives and are among the eligible items in the GP Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program.
 
Dr Jones says the new item number is likely to be distinct to the previous ‘Healthy Kids Check’ MBS item for four-year-olds, which was stopped in 2014.
 
‘It was about establishing kids’ physical health heading into school, and the purpose of the Thriving Kids check, as I’m calling it, would be to take a much earlier look at the social–emotional development of children as well as their milestones and the wellbeing of families,’ he said.
 
‘Essentially [it would be to] try to identify those more subtle concerns that are currently not getting picked up until later and act in a much more proactive fashion.’
 
Minister Butler first raised the possibility of reintroducing Medicare-funded child health checks, which the RACGP has long advocated for, in August last year when he flagged major NDIS reforms as part of a push to curb spending.
 
Last week, the rollout of the Thriving Kids program was delayed three months until 1 October this year to ensure states and territories have enough time to put it in place.
 
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