Better Access

From 1 November 2025, Medicare benefits will only be payable for Better Access services where the mental health treatment plan, review of the mental health treatment plan and referrals has been undertaken at a patient’s MyMedicare registered practice or by their usual medical practitioner.

A patient’s usual medical practitioner is someone who has provided the majority of services to the person in the past 12 months or who is likely to provide the majority of services to the person in the following 12 months. This includes other GPs and PMPs who are employed at the patient’s usual medical practice. 

It is important to note 

• that patients can choose to see their usual medical practitioner irrespective of their existing MyMedicare registered status. This is because patients may choose to seek mental health support through a separate GP or PMP for a wide variety of reasons, and these changes will not impact the ability for patients to continue to do this. 

• Patients do not need to register for MyMedicare to continue receiving care or access a Mental Health Treatment Plan services however MyMedicare Registered patients may receive additional benefits, like longer MBS-funded telehealth consults. 

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Overview of recent changes 

Preparation of a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP), referrals for psychological therapy services or focuses psychological strategies services and reviews of a MHTP can be done by a patient’s General Practitioner (GP) or Prescribed Medical Practitioner (PMP) at their MyMedicare registered practice OR their usual medical practitioner, to improve continuity of care.   

Removal of MHTP review and mental health consultation items. GPs/PMPs will be able to use time-tiered professional (general attendance) items to review, refer and/or provide ongoing mental health consultation for a patient’s mental health. This allows GPs greater flexibility to determine the appropriate amount of time they need to spend with the patient based on their individual circumstances. There is no limitation on the number of health-related issues that can be addressed as part of a general attendance consultation if the requirements of the service are met and adequate and contemporaneous records are maintained. 

Transition arrangements 

Patients will not be required to have a new MHTP prepared once the 1 November changes come into effect. Referrals for mental health treatment services dated prior to 1 November 2025 remain valid until all treatment services under that referral (within the maximum session limit for the course of treatment) have been provided to the patient.

 Better Access User Guide 

The Better Access Mental Health MBS User Guide is available to support your practice to implement the changes to the Better Access initiative from 1 November 2025.   

This user guide clarifies the new Better Access MBS Item numbers and provides a useful flow chart for which item numbers GPs/PMPs can use. The guide has dedicated pages for GP’s/PMP’s who have and have not undertaken mental health skills training and provides guidance on what to include in Mental Health Treatment Plans.