Big Changes to Medicare Are Coming: Here's What It Means for Young People

The changes involve more than 900 health services and procedures.

As of 1 July, the federal government is rolling out one of the biggest changes ever seen to Medicare, potentially impacting thousands of patients in Australia, and causing concern in the medical community.

The new changes involve more than 900 health services and procedures, which under the new 1 July scheme will either be ineligible for government rebates or face a rebate reduction.

FYI, a rebate is simply the amount the government will contribute each year to the cost of your private health insurance.

‘Cos this stuff is filled with bureaucratic jargon, we’re gonna break it down for you and explain what it means for young people.

What are the changes?

The government are specifically changing what will be eligible for a rebate under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

This MBS is a list of medical services that the Australian government subsidises and are usually accessed through your Medicare card. For example, if you go on a mental health treatment plan, a portion of that is covered by the government.

Of the 900 changes, some are expected to be towards private surgeries, including orthopaedic, general and heart surgery.

Why did the government change it?

As medicine advances over time, the cost and time spent on procedures—as well as the cost of equipment and tools—comes down. Therefore the MBS needs to be revised to reflect these changes.

The long overdue revision of the list has meant that some services and procedures will no longer be covered.

A taskforce looked through more than 5,700 items on the MBS list to amend or remove items that were “obsolete, outdated or potentially unsafe,” according to their brief.

Will this affect me?

According to Dr. Duckett from the Grattan Institute, “Young people have nothing to worry about,” as they’re not expected to use the services that are being dropped or slashed. 

“It’s only relevant if you go into a private hospital. So it basically doesn’t affect many people to start with," Dr. Druckett said.

That might be all well and good for healthy young Aussies, but that does leave young people with underlying health conditions in the dark until more info is available. Not great, especially if they have to fork out more money for their treatment.

Furthermore, experts have proposed that the funds being stripped away from some items on the MBS list will be redirected into mental health services. That's good news if it comes true, but we'll have to see it to believe it first.

Why are people upset?

The limited deets on the changes that are coming has led the Austalian Medial Association (AMA) to vocalise their concerns about the impact when it comes to rolling out the new plan on 1 July.

"The AMA is concerned that the private healthcare sector will not be ready for the 1 July changes due to poor implementation by the Government," said AMA Predsident Dr. Omar Khorshid.

"Less than one month out from the implementation of these changes, and we still do not have all the information we need to assess and change over our schedules and payment processes to reflect the changes."

Now I'm no doctor, but I reckon a lack of info and no time isn't a good thing...

Alongside the AMA, the Labor Party has called out the Liberal Party for cutting rebates, with Tanya Plibersek and party leader Anothony Albanese tweeting their dislike of the MBS revision.

The new changes to Medicare and the MBS come into effect 1 July 2021.

Header Image: Matt King / Stringer via Getty Images