The latest I have seen as to what is now happening is here:
Govt confirms end of rebates for longer telephone consults
But the Minister for Health has put off plans for a '30/20' compliance regime
1st July 2022
The new Minister for Health has rejected last-minute appeals to save the MBS item for GPs to do longer telephone consults, instead deferring a new compliance regime that aims to deter abuse of the remaining phone items.
All the main GP groups had called for the $75.75 item for telephone consults lasting 20 minutes or more to be retained, stressing it was needed to ensure those without access to video — elderly and marginalised patients — could still access care in the context of rising COVID-19 cases.
In May, the item was claimed 109,000 times.
Items for longer and extended video consults were only claimed 26,000 times.
The Minister for Health Mark Butler defended his decision on Friday.
"There are very clear cases for a better clinical outcome if you can actually see your doctor over FaceTime or whatever,” he told ABC radio.
“You can still have a phone consult with your doctor under 20 minutes and you can have a video consult from your home with your doctor of any duration.
"The former government gave long notice of this.”
Mr Butler did defer the introduction of a new 30/20 rule for the remaining telehealth items, which would have meant any GP who provided 30 phone consults on 20 or more days in a 12-month period being investigated by the Professional Services Review.
“I don't think it's appropriate that those compliance measures start as the former government had decided they would given what GPs and patients are dealing with right now,” Mr Butler said.
"Given the level of respiratory illness in the community, more and more patients, more and more GPs for that matter, are choosing to have consults conducted virtually, and I don't want GPs punished for that.
“It is important to have good compliance and quality-control measures in place for telehealth, [but] I don't think it's a good idea to drop it in the middle of the winter that we're experiencing right now.”
He said the rule, now slated to start in September, would be delayed again “if there is a good reason”.
The decision also meant telehealth consults — both video and audio-only phone calls — would not count towards the 80/20 rule.
More here:
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/govt-confirms-end-rebates-longer-telephone-consults
Then I also spotted some consequences:
Vulnerable Australians ‘filled with dread’ over telehealth cuts
Decision to end a range of services on 30 June will lead to ‘avoidable suffering and distress’, medical practitioners say
Sat 2 Jul 2022 06.00 AEST Last modified on Sat 2 Jul 2022 06.01 AEST
Living through Covid-19 with inflammatory arthritis, telehealth has been the only way for Eliza Sorensen to safely access her routine medical appointments.
Sorensen is considered severely immunocompromised due to the medication she takes to control her chronic disease. She also lives with asthma.
Sorensen says the government’s decision not to extend pandemic-related telehealth services will be “devastating” for her and people in similar situations.
“I can’t drive due to the medication I’m on, and without mask mandates being in place it’s incredibly risky for me to leave the house, let alone catch public transport to my appointments,” she said.
“I’ve experienced being kicked out of an Uber for wanting to leave the window down because the driver refused to wear a mask. It’s not without risk or issues.”
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, announced on Thursday he would go ahead with a decision of the former government to end a range of telehealth services on 30 June – despite acknowledging the challenges arising from the current wave of the Covid pandemic.
The decision means more than 70 different telehealth-related consultations have been cut, including 33 initial and complex specialist items, 40 specialist inpatient items, and GP consultations that last longer than 20 minutes.
Short telehealth consultations with GPs are still available.
Medical practitioners fear the winding back of telehealth services will cause vulnerable patients to decline while the health system remains under serious strain.
Mental health nurse Grahame Gee said patients with complex mental health needs, who often require longer consultations, would suffer the most.
“These patients are also at high risk of developing serious chronic physical health problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” he said.
“Untreated, these conditions will lead to avoidable suffering, distress and impairment, in addition to the distress caused by their mental health condition.”
Gee said telehealth had been successful in decreasing barriers to access throughout the pandemic.
“The decision to dramatically reduce the MBS funding for these services is of great concern to me with respect to the physical and mental wellbeing of patients, in particular to those in rural and remote areas where access to medical services is already a serious issue,” he said.
The windback comes months after the former government imposed “devastating” changes to the telehealth system, removing a 50% loading for some rural psychiatric services, meaning a string of consultations could no longer be bulk-billed.
Lots more here:
Reading closely it is clear that telehealth has not only been a boon during COVID but that there are a legion of other important uses for patients who need access to telehealth who have rather been caught up in the revocation of these benefits.
While I struggle to understand why any of these benefits need to be restricted or cutback, but for these types of users identified above it is plain cruel.
There needs to a much ore granular approach to what is happening than is currently the case I reckon!
What do readers think?
David.
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