Medicare Rebates

I am now classified under a relatively new Medicare category of MENTAL HEALTH SOCIAL WORKER. As such you can get a refund from Medicare of approximately $66 from my standard fee of $120.00.

The idea of this service is to make mental health services more accessible to the community. If you are in distress, your doctor can refer you to Mental Health Social Worker for the treatment of anxiety, or depression etc. as part of a co-ordinated health care plan. This can also include couple or family counselling if this is seen as the prime cause, or a major contributing factor to the distress.

To get this benefit you have to be referred by a GP as part of a Mental Health Care Plan. GP’s are entitled to a rebate for completing this plan (Item2710) as it can be time consuming. Once Medicare is billed for the item the referral is activated. A letter of referral from the doctor is also required as it is in the case of any other referral

This service is limited to a maximum of 12 planned sessions in a calendar year. I am required to report the client’s progress back to the GP every six sessions. In special circumstances another six sessions can be allocated in a calendar year.

Discussions with Medicare reveal that the referral must include the name, address and provider number of the service to which the patient is being referred. The provider number and the address are critical - as they are linked to the provider number by Medicare. If these details are absent or incorrect, the claim will not be accepted.

Under Medicare, I am registered as a Mental Health Social Worker with the following details:

The referral also needs to include the Patient’s Medicare number. This enables me to confirm that Medicare has accepted your use of item number 2710 – as the use of item number 80160 is dependent upon this.

As with other referrals, the full details of the referring Doctor need to be included. This includes: the full name of the referring Doctor, their practice address, their provider number and the referral date.

Thank You

Fergus Matthews BA (Soc.) BSW