Australians will have access to better, more affordable mental health care through new Medicare mental health items and support services costing $538 million over five years. The new MBS items for mental health will make Medicare rebates available for GPs who provide early intervention, assessment and management of patients with mental disorders as part of a GP Mental Health Care Plan.
Also coming into effect are a GP Mental Health Care Consultation item for GPs to provide continuing management of patients with mental disorders, items to support psychiatrists to see more new patients and items to provide rebates for psychological assessment and therapy services provided by clinical psychologists and other allied mental health professionals.
There will be a new Medicare rebate for GPs to provide a preventative health check to people aged between 45 and 49 years who are at risk of developing a chronic disease.
This health check will help people to make necessary changes to prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease. This new item is in addition to health checks currently provided under Medicare for indigenous people and people aged over 75 years.
The rebate for Pap smears undertaken by practice nurses on behalf of a GP will be extended to urban areas.
Practice nurses will be able to take Pap smears and provide other preventive checks on behalf of GPs in all areas of Australia and the patient will be able to claim a Medicare rebate for the service. This extension will also give women in urban areas the choice to use a female health professional for these important checks.
There will be a new Medicare rebate for antenatal care delivered by midwives, nurses and registered Aboriginal health workers on behalf of a GP or specialist.
These antenatal services will be performed under the supervision of a medical practitioner, who will remain responsible for the patient?s health, safety and clinical outcomes. The item will not include delivery or the management of labour and is not intended to replace antenatal care that is more appropriately provided by a medical practitioner.
Together, these non-mental health items are expected to cost about $60 million over 4 years.