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To receive mental health treatment under Medicare, you need a referral from your GP or psychiatrist. If your GP is referring you, they must create a Mental Health Treatment Plan before you can see a psychologist. It’s a good idea to schedule a longer appointment with your GP to allow time for this.

The cost will vary based on the session length and the psychologist’s fee. The fee for a psychological therapy session typically exceeds the Medicare rebate, and so you will need to pay the difference. Any out-of-pocket expenses count towards the Medicare Safety Net.

Yes, you can claim on your private insurance if your insurance provides ancillary cover for psychology.

However, you cannot use private health insurance ancillary cover to top up Medicare rebates.

You’ll need to choose between using Medicare or your private health insurance ancillary cover to pay for psychological services.

Under the Better Access initiative, eligible individuals can receive:

• Up to 10 individual sessions per calendar year (January 1 to December 31).

Referrals cover a maximum of six sessions at a time. Your referring doctor will review your progress after these initial six sessions to decide if additional sessions are necessary.

Once you reach the maximum number of sessions for the calendar year, you won’t be eligible for further Medicare rebates for psychological treatment until the new calendar year.

No, a mental health treatment plan does not expire, and a referral is valid until the referred number of sessions have been used.

Referrals under an MHTP do not expire, but if there’s been a gap of 3 or more months between appointments, your psychologist is required to report this to your treating doctor. If you pause treatment without using all your sessions, your psychologist will usually notify you before discharging you.

If you restart treatment after a break of 6 months or longer, your psychologist may ask your GP to review your MHTP before resuming therapy.