We thank and acknowledge all of Australia’s vital health care workers for their ongoing commitment and dedication to providing Australians with the health care they need during this unprecedented time.
The Government has been consulting extensively with the AMA, RACGP, ACCRM, RDAA, and other key peak bodies and members of the medical profession and health professions, to ensure Medicare is responsive to the challenges of COVID-19.
Amendments to Medicare are being implemented quickly, but also in a staged and proportionate way to ensure critical health services can continue to operate, and the integrity of our health system is maintained.
The Government is also consulting with the AMA, RACGP, ACCRM, RDAA and other critical parts of the medical profession during the course of this week to further expand our telehealth response.
From today, the Government will enable all vulnerable general practitioners and other vulnerable health professionals who are currently authorised to use telehealth item numbers, to use telehealth for all consultations with all their patients.
This includes health care providers who are:
• aged at least 70 years old
• Indigenous and aged at least 50 years old
• pregnant
• a parent of a child under 12 months
• immune compromised.
• have a chronic medical condition that results in increased risk from coronavirus infection.
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