Medicare Benefits Schedule - Note GN.1.2

The Medicare Program ('Medicare') provides access to medical and hospital services for all Australian residents and certain categories of visitors to Australia. Services Australia administers Medicare and the payment of Medicare benefits. The major elements of Medicare are contained in the Health Insurance Act 1973, as amended, and include the following:

1. Free treatment for public patients in public hospitals.
2. The payment of 'benefits', or rebates, for professional services listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). The relevant benefit rates are:
   1.  100% of the Schedule fee for services provided by a general practitioner to non-referred, non-admitted patients, or for general practitioner attendances specified as not being hospital treatments - see note below;
   2. 100% of the Schedule fee for services provided on behalf of a general practitioner by a practice nurse or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner*;
   3. 75% of the Schedule fee for professional services rendered to a patient as part of an episode of hospital treatment (other than services provided to public patients), including services provided in hospital outpatient settings but not generally including services set out in the note below. Medical practitioners must indicate on their accounts if a medical service is rendered in these circumstances by placing an asterisk '*' or the letter 'H' directly after an item number where used; or a description of the professional service and an indication the service was rendered as an episode of hospital treatment (for example, 'in hospital', 'hospital outpatient service', 'admitted' or 'in patient');
   4. 75% of the Schedule fee for professional services rendered as part of a privately insured episode of hospital-substitute treatment such as ‘hospital in the home’, but generally not including certain services listed below. Medical practitioners must indicate on their accounts if a medical service is rendered in these circumstances by placing the words 'hospital-substitute treatment' directly after an item number where used; or a description of the professional service, preceded by the words 'hospital-substitute treatment';
   5. 85% of the Schedule fee for all other services.

Note: while hospital treatments and hospital-substitute treatments attract a 75% rebate, most attendances, services provided to private patients in emergency departments, pathology services and diagnostic imaging services do not generally require hospital treatment and therefore do not attract a rebate of 75% of the Schedule fee unless certified as a 'Type C' treatment. A list of most MBS items in scope of this exception, and the requirements around certifying a treatment as 'Type C' can be found in the Private Health Insurance (Benefit Requirement) Rules 2011. Services provided to a private patient in an emergency department are exempted under the Private Health Insurance (Health Insurance Business) Rules 2018.

Medicare benefits are claimable only for 'clinically relevant' services rendered by an appropriate health practitioner. A 'clinically relevant' service is one which is generally accepted by the relevant profession as necessary for the appropriate treatment of the patient.

When a service is not clinically relevant, the fee and payment arrangements are a private matter between the practitioner and the patient.

Services listed in the MBS must be rendered according to the provisions of the relevant Commonwealth, State and Territory laws. For example, medical practitioners must ensure that the medicines and medical devices they use have been supplied to them in strict accordance with the provisions of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989.

Where a Medicare benefit has been inappropriately paid, the Department of Human Services may request its return from the practitioner concerned. 

* MBS items 10988 and 10989 generally attract a 100% rebate but can be specified as 'Type C' treatments and attract a 75% rebate.

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