Telehealth Medicare Items Made Permanent

The Federal Government has announced that the telehealth arrangements introduced last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are to be made permanent.

This is great news for occupational therapists and their clients.

Announcing the initiative today, the Minister for Health and Aged care, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, revealed that, since early March 2020, more than 86.3 million COVID-19 MBS telehealth services have been delivered to 16.1 million patients, with $4.4 billion in Medicare benefits paid. More than 89,000 providers have used telehealth services.

Since March last year, OTA has lobbied for telehealth to be continued, and on several occasions it has been extended. The announcement will ensure that occupational therapists can, on a permanent basis, continue to support clients by means of telehealth when appropriate. This measure also helps address the shortage of allied health services in rural and remote Australia.