Medicare FAQs

Medicare and Mental Health Plans

How do I use Medicare/ my Mental Health Care Plan?

Sweet! You have a GP who has referred you to a psychologist and you want to use your Mental Health Plan (MHP). Use these steps below:

1-Contact the psychologist you want to work with and make sure they have openings (NOTE: MHPs only work with a psychologist or some social workers)

2- Coordinate with the psychologist for scheduling and any additional information needed for your MHP.

3-Get your GP to complete the MHP with the name of your psychologist before you show up to the first session

Easy. Done. Now you and your GP and your psychologist can coordinate how many sessions, rebates, etc. Your psychologist will talk you through this.

How do I find out which Here Completely providers take Medicare?

The provider will need to be a PSYCHOLOGIST.

Under COST it will say “Medicare rebate available”

What’s the difference between a psychologist, counsellor, psychotherapist and relationship counsellor?

I know. It gets tricky fast. But for the purposes of Medicare, you need to know that Counsellors, Psychotherapists, and Relationship Counsellors are not Psychologists. And since only Psychologists (and some social workers) are able to take Medicare you’ll need to select a psychologist.

It’s also useful to know that some Psychologists may have additional education to be counted as a Psychotherapist, or Relationship Counsellor (Mind. blown!)

I know. It’s complicated. But for purposes of Medicare, just make sure you select a psychologist (or social worker) who is able to take Medicare. We made it easy by stating “Medicare rebate available” in the provider profile.

How come only some of your providers take mental health care plans (Medicare)?

Australia does a pretty good job of providing Medicare for those seeking medical help. Unfortunately, Australia only allows psychologists and some social workers to work with Medicare for mental health. That leaves most Counsellors, Psychotherapists and Relationship Therapists out of the Medicare game.

That’s OK. We’re not really complaining. There are actually some benefits to not taking Medicare.

Are there any benefits for not using a psychologist who takes Medicare and instead using a counsellor or psychotherapist or relationship counsellor?

Every provider here has their own style and their own brand of therapy. We think the best benefit would be working with somebody who you really click with.

Aside from that, there are some other benefits of not using Medicare.

1- If we aren’t using Medicare, it also means we are not constrained by the type of treatment Australian Medicare has dictated you need. And, yes, there is a (surprisingly short) list of approved treatment interventions.

2- There is more privacy with your records as you will not be part of the Medicare system because you are the one footing all the bill (i.e. records are not shared with a govt entity unless safety issues preclude this)

3- There isn’t a limit to the amount of sessions.

4- You may also find that some of our very talented psychotherapists have lower costs than your gap with Medicare. Check out their prices. You may be surprised.

Seeing a psychotherapist may be a very different experience from seeing a psychologist. Both are very helpful. But each will work with you in a different type of way. This has to do with different education, training and different restrictions on what types of therapy can be used.

And for the Here Completely Team, you will find that most of our Counsellors and Psychotherapists have multiple advanced degrees in different interesting areas. We think you’ll find added value in all of this extra training and education.

How come you don’t have more psychologists or social workers who take Medicare

We’d love to have more psychologists or social workers who can take Medicare. Sadly these types of mental health care workers are in very high demand right now. Two years of COVID have put a lot of pressure on the mental health care system.

We’re constantly in the process of trying to lure psychologists over to our HereCompletely Team because we think they would really love to work here. But it seems we are just going to have to be a little more patient.

Can I use a Medicare rebate for couples counselling

Sadly, Australia does not recognise Couples Counselling as a Medicare-eligible expense.

Do you have anybody who bulk bills?

Not yet. But we really wish we did.