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MBS rebates
The following articles have the tag MBS rebates
Mental health needs more funding, services: AMA
THE AMA has called on the Federal Government to provide $5 billion in funding to expand, better resource and coordinate mental health services. The money would be used over four years to increase MBS rebates for GP consultations relating to mental health issues, to better reflect the complexities involved and meanwhile support public campaigns to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness. The call came as the association today unveiled its latest position statement on mental health which included a range of priority areas for government action in mental health policy. The AMA plan also ...
Push to extend telehealth rebates
ALL GP-facilitated telehealth consultations should be eligible for an MBS rebate, doctors’ groups argue, not just those that take place in rural and remote settings. Beginning 1 July this year, the rebates are part of a $352 million budget initiative to provide rebates to GPs and specialists to conduct video-linked, telephone or online consultations for patients in rural, remote and outer metropolitan locations. The rebates were part of the 2010 federal budget and will be overseen by the Federal Health Department. Under the proposed model, GPs would need to be present during most consultations and would ...
Call for after-hours funding to boost GP access
NEW workforce data showing a drop in GP after-hours services has sparked fresh calls for more investment in general practice to improve access to GP services. The latest BEACH report has revealed the percentage of doctors providing or involved in cooperative practice coverage of after-hours care decreased from 60% to 43% in the last 10 years. In the past year alone, coverage dropped by 2 per cent. The report, General practice activity in Australia 2008-09, which draws on data gathered from 100,000 patient-encounters, also shows that just 39% of the 6183 encounters involving practice nurses were recorded ...
GP regains provider number
AN IMG who gained national media attention after her Medicare provider number was revoked has been told she may regain access to MBS rebates. Canadian Dr Susan Douglas, a GP working in a designated area of need and also a senior lecturer in general practice at ANU, recently had her provider number cancelled due to an expired visa, despite having attained residency in August 2008 ( MO , online, 9 October ). Dr Douglas complained to Medicare that she had not been informed of the requirements for IMG permanent residents to claim MBS rebates. She told ...
$1m clinic grants unattractive: Primary boss
MILLION-dollar government grants to establish or expand virtual or physical multipurpose medical centres are unlikely to entice corporate practice operators, according to Primary Health Care managing director Dr Edmund Bateman. Responding to early reports on the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) proposal to expand the super clinics concept and set up comprehensive primary healthcare centres, Dr Bateman told MO that the super clinic model had already proven infrastructure grants alone were not the answer to creating sustainable health services. “A million-dollar grant would not pay the deposit on what we do in our ...
Government spin sidelining real health problems
SUCCESSIVE governments have successfully cast doctors as the black hats in the health debate. This was proved again last week when the AMA’s suggested $2 increase in fees for a Level B consult made front-page news in the tabloids. Encouragingly, online and radio commentary injected some sense into the argument, but the fact that such a small rise rated a major splash further confirms that the government’s spin is alive and kicking. Government is trying to win the war of words, but the truth must prevail. The real issue for patients is that government continues ...