MyMedicare - what does it mean for you?
Did you know that having a relationship with a regular GP, clinic or primary care team can lead to better overall health outcomes, as well as improving access and patient experience?
Relationship-based, whole person care is the basis of quality general practice. Quality rarely comes cheap, and inadequate funding of general practice in Australia over the last 20 years has resulted in increased out of pocket costs to patients.
What is MyMedicare?
In 2023, the My Medicare program was launched by the federal government with the aim of strengthening and formalising the relationship between patients, their chosen GP and general practice or primary care team.
It is voluntary and free to register for MyMedicare, and registration is open to Australians with a Medicare card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran Card.
By registering as a patient, nominating a general practice and selecting a preferred GP, you are choosing your preferred primary care team to deliver the comprehensive, coordinated care you need over the long term.
How will this program benefit patients and practices?
As part of your My Medicare registration, your chosen clinic and GP will appear on your My Health Record. This means that other health professionals you see, including at public hospitals, will know who to talk to about your regular care.
In the future, practices may start to receive some additional funding to look after patients with complex healthcare needs, enabling wraparound care with less out of pocket costs to the patients. Certain services such as chronic disease management plans can only be billed to Medicare by the registered practice once registration has occurred. If you have not registered with any clinic for My Medicare, any GP can perform these services.
Medicare funding of some services (such as longer telephone consultations) is ONLY available to patients registered with MyMedicare, and only at their registered clinic.
Once registered, you can choose to change practice or opt out at any stage.
How do I register?
In order to be eligible for registration with a clinic, you must have had two face to face visits in the past 24 months. People facing hardship such as homelessness and domestic violence are exempt from this condition. Patients can only register with one practice at a time, and the practice and GP must accept the registration in order to activate it.
Many members of our Neighbourhood Medical community have already decided to enrol with MyMedicare.
You can register online via the Medicare tile of your MyGov account.
Further information on My Medicare:
We know that the Australian public values choice when accessing healthcare.
My Medicare does not aim to remove choice as you can still attend different clinics when needed, but it does aim to encourage patients to attend the same clinic regularly.
Resources from the government (videos and information leaflets) can be found online here or ask your GP or any of the practice team about it when you are next in the clinic.
