How many Medicare sessions on a mental health care plan?
A mental health care plan gives access to up to 10 individual Medicare-subsidised sessions per calendar year under Better Access. It is not 10 per referral; the count is per calendar year and resets on 1 January. Up to 10 group sessions are available on top.
Department of Health and Aged Care, Better Access initiative
MBS Online, Better Access items
The number
The plan itself does not contain a set number of sessions. It makes the patient eligible for the Better Access limit of up to 10 individual sessions in a calendar year with a psychologist, social worker or occupational therapist. Unused sessions do not carry over to the next year.
How they are released
The referral covers an initial course of a maximum of 6 sessions. After those, the patient returns to the GP or other referrer for a review, and if further treatment is warranted a subsequent course can be referred, up to the annual total of 10 individual sessions.
Group sessions
Separately, up to 10 group therapy sessions per calendar year are available. These do not reduce the 10 individual sessions, so group work does not use up the individual allowance.
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