Subsidized visits to psychologists will be cut in half in a few weeks, and the new federal government will drop an added program at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key points:
- The previous government allowed people to have 20 subsidized psychologist visits
- The new government says the program did little to help people in rural and low socioeconomic areas.
- The Australian Psychological Society wanted the 10 extra visits to be made permanent
Health Minister Mark Butler said patients will only be able to claim Medicare reimbursement for 10 visits to a psychologist next year, up from 20 people they have been able to access in recent months.
In August 2020, the number of sessions available through the Better Access program was temporarily increased from 10 to 20.
Butler said that while the Better Access program had offered benefits for people who used it, not everyone had been able to access it equally.
“The assessment that I’m publishing today looked at the impact of those 10 additional sessions and found that they drove a very large increase in the number of services in this sector overall,” Butler said.
“But it found that those additional 10 exacerbated existing waiting lists and access barriers, particularly for (people in rural and low socioeconomic areas).
“The evaluation found that all of the additional services were for existing patients and that the number of new patients who were able to enter the system and gain access to psychology services actually decreased by 7 percent.”
The health minister said he would meet with people from the industry next year to ensure there is “equity” in the system.
Just last week, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) again called for the additional visits to become permanent.
“APS’s position is that these sessions should be a permanent feature of the Better Access program,” he said in a statement.
“We stand by this position and will continue to defend it.”
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