How does the Medicare rebate/Mental Health Care Plan work?
I often get calls to ask whether I can take a Mental Health Care Plan. At present in Australia, counsellors and psychotherapists [used interchangeably in the rest of this article) are unable to provide services under the Medicare framework. This means that if you have obtained a Mental Health Care Plan, you won’t get a rebate if you see a counsellor.
Luckily you do not even need a mental health plan to see a counsellor, so if your preferred practitioner is a counsellor, there is just no need to get a Mental Health Care Plan (or use it if you already have one).
If you are concerned about costs, many counsellors are often the same costs or cheaper to see than using a Mental Health Care Plan with another kind of mental health care professional.
However, if you want to see a different kind of mental health care professional, then you might find a mental health care plan useful.
Who can I see under the Mental Health Care Plan?
You can see one of these professionals:
registered or clinical psychologist
mental health social worker
mental health occupational therapist
What does the Mental Health Care Plan get you?
A Mental Health Care Plan means that you can see certain professionals and receive a Medicare rebate. However, there are some conditions to this:
You must see your GP for a Mental Health Care Plan consultation before you start and after session #6. Mental Health Care Plan consultations are usually billed as a longer consultation.
Limited to 10 sessions per calendar year
Mental health care plans only cover certain types of therapies (generally limited to CBT varieties of talk therapy & EMDR)
How much is the rebate & how much will I pay?
It depends on a couple of factors:
Who you see
What they charge
Your own Medicare Safety Net
These are the standard Medicare rebates correct at time of publishing. This is what you would receive back from Medicare (depending on your safety net) after seeing the mental health professional:
Each of these professionals are able to set their own fees and the Medicare Rebate would apply to that. Below I have listed the recommended fees for these professions
The APS recommends a standard fee of $311 per session for psychologists.
The AASW recommends a standard fee of $270 per session for social workers.
OT Australia has not recommended a standard fee for OTs.
You can read more about Mental Health Care Plans here:
Services Australia - Mental Health Care and Medicare
There are also specialised medicare rebates available for certain groups of people, such as those with: