No, you don’t. By paying for therapy yourself, you have the greatest amount of privacy because you don’t need to have your GP involved or seek approval from Medicare.
But, Medicare rebates do allow you to reduce the cost of your therapy sessions.
All Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens, and permanent residents are entitled to a rebate on part of the cost of treatment by qualified and registered psychologists.
You can claim rebates on up to 10 therapy sessions each calendar year. So, from January 1 to December 31st, you’re entitled to 10 rebates. And then at midnight on New Years Eve the clock resets and you’re entitled to another 10 rebates the following year.
The way to get these rebates is to go and see your GP and ask for a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) referral to TrueHope Psychology or whoever your preferred psychologist is. When you are in this appointment, the GP will ask you some basic questions about why you would like a mental health care plan, but they don’t normally go into too much detail.
Your GP will normally fax your Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) over to us, but it’s also a good idea to bring that with you to your first appointment. If we don’t have that in time, it means that we won’t be able to process the rebate for you.
After paying for the session we will process the rebate for you. If you have registered your bank account with Medicare, that means that the money will go straight into your account. Normally within 48 hours. If you haven’t registered your account, that’s ok too. But it means that they might send you out a cheque.
You will also need to back and see your GP after the first six sessions. And that is just to have a bit of chat to your GP, tell them how therapy is going, and get approval for additional sessions. It normally isn’t a problem at all and your GP will sign off on more sessions without any hassles.
It can be a little bit confusing, and there are other types of funding that are also available. So, if you have any questions at all, please give us a call and we’ll do our best to answer those for you. You can also submit a query via our website too.
Visit www.truehope.com.au to make on online booking. You can also speak with us directly on 0434794524.