Medicare pay doctor scheme extends to specialists
A scheme allowing GPs to recover unpaid Medicare cheques automatically is to be extended to specialists under legislation introduced to parliament.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the measure would encourage specialists and consultant physicians to use electronic claiming of Medicare benefits.
It would also help patients, who wouldn’t have to go to a Medicare office to claim their pay doctor cheques.
The measure amends the 90 Day Pay Doctor Scheme, where when a patient submits an unpaid bill to Medicare, the patient is given a pay doctor cheque – made out to the doctor who provided the service for the amount of the Medicare rebate.
The patient was responsible for sending the cheque, plus any extra money needed to pay the account fully, to the doctor.
Most patients sent the cheques on to their doctor. However, some cheques were presented very late or not at all, leading to lengthy delays or bad debts which were costly for practices to chase up.
The 90-day scheme, now open only to GPs, allows Medicare to cancel a pay doctor cheque if it hasn’t been banked in 90 days and make a direct electronic payment to the doctor.
