MyMedicare
What is MyMedicare?
MyMedicare is a voluntary registration system designed to enhance healthcare delivery and patient experiences by allowing individuals to choose their preferred General or Nurse Practitioner and healthcare team. By registering with MyMedicare, patients and practices gain access to a variety of benefits, including:
- Longer MBS-funded telephone calls
- Triple bulk billing incentives for telehealth consultations
- Tailored care for complex chronic diseases
Patients can register with a practice if they have had two (2) face to face visits recorded at the same practice in the past 24 months within the MM1 locations. One face to face visit recorded in the previous 24 months for patients registered with practices in MM6 and MM7 locations.
MyMedicare promotes stronger relationships between patients and their care teams, supporting person-centred care and reducing hospitalisations. It is integrated with My Health Record, facilitating effective communication and collaboration among healthcare providers. (updated July 2024)
Why Register with MyMedicare?
A well-supported general practice team can deliver sustainable, equitable, high-value healthcare that benefits both patients and providers.
- Strengthens General Practice: Enhances the role of general practice in the Australian health system.
- Integrated Communication: MyMedicare's integration with My Health Record allows easy communication between hospitals and a patient’s regular GP.
- Better Patient Information: Practices will have improved information about which patients see them regularly, making it easier to tailor services to fit their needs.
- Blended Funding Payments: Supports primary care providers in keeping registered patients with complex chronic diseases out of the hospital.
- General Practice in Aged Care Incentive: Supports GPs in providing regular visits, health assessments, and care plans for residents in aged care homes.
- Chronic Disease Management: From November 2024, items linked to a patient’s registration in MyMedicare will support continuity of care for people with chronic and complex conditions. Patients not registered in MyMedicare can still receive Chronic Disease Management items from their usual GP.
- Improved Continuity of Care: Greater continuity of care with their registered practice, improving health outcomes.
- Longer Telehealth Consultations: Longer MBS-funded telehealth consultations with their GP.
- Triple Bulk Billing Incentive: For longer MBS telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders, starting 1 November 2023.
- Regular GP Visits for Aged Care Residents: More regular visits from their GP and better care planning for people living in residential aged care homes, starting August 2024.
- Appropriate Care Connections: Better connections to appropriate care in general practice for frequent hospital visitors, starting mid-2024.
Who is Eligible?
For detailed information about MyMedicare eligibility for practices, General Practitioners, and patients, please visit the Department of Health and Aged Care website.
General Practice
Patients
- Patients have been eligible to register for MyMedicare since October 1, 2023, provided they have a valid Medicare card or DVA veteran’s card.
- Registration can be completed through a GP-provided form, online via their Medicare Online account, or the Express Plus Medicare app.
- Patients do not need to physically attend a practice to complete the registration.
- If a resident cannot provide consent, a responsible person can do so on their behalf.
- Directors or members with the Owner-Access attribute in Provider Digital Access (PRODA) will automatically have the MyMedicare attribute.
- Other members must be assigned the HPOS-MyMedicare-Program-Staff attribute to access the MyMedicare program, which can only be added by a director or a member with Owner-Access.
- Members also need the HPOS-Access attribute to access Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) on behalf of the organisation in PRODA.
How can general practices prepare for the change?
Ahead of the changes, there are some practical steps you can take to ready your practice. Prior to 1 November, practices are encouraged
- To register your practice for MyMedicare and link your participating providers to your Organisation Site Record (if you have not done so already) and,
- register your patients with chronic conditions or existing care plans in MyMedicare
Further details can be found (attached and Upcoming changes to MBS Chronic Disease Management Arrangements | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care)
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.
- For example, if a patient is registered with a MyMedicare practice but wishes to see a GP at another practice (e.g. a headspace GP) as they consider them to be their ‘usual medical practitioner’ for their mental health support needs, there is nothing precluding the patient from doing so because of the changes coming in to affect.
The department is also in the final stages of developing guidance materials for GPs/PMPs and their patients to raise awareness of the available Australian Government-funded mental health supports available across the stepped care continuum to support referral of patients. These will be shared with the sector and will be made available on the department’s website once finalised.
General Practice in Aged Care Incentive (GPACI)
The General Practice in Aged Care Incentive (GPACI) began on 1 July 2024.
GPACI supports older people living in Residential Aged Care Homes (RACHs) to receive planned, quality primary care services from a regular general practice and GP at the patient’s aged care home rather than at the GP practice.
GPACI has replaced the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) General Practitioner (GP) Aged Care Access Incentive (ACAI), which ceased 31 July 2024.
Incentive payments
Payments are made quarterly:
- $300 per patient, per year, paid to the responsible provider
- $130 per patient, per year, paid to the practice
The incentive payments will be quarterly, on top of existing Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) and Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) rebates for services delivered.
In any given assessment period (quarter), to be eligible to receive incentive payments, providers and practices must meet both eligibility and servicing requirements. To find out more about requirements, payments & eligibility please refer to the Program Guidelines.
Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM) is available to assist and support Practices in the set-up of MyMedicare and its subsequent incentives as required.
AAPM provides ongoing assistance as required and will assist all Practices, regardless of if they are a member or not. To contact AAPM Phone: (61) 1800 196 000 or Email: nationaloffice@aapm.org.au
Webinar & Short Video Series
The below webinars included conversations on what this incentive means for you and the potential benefits, how to utilise the incentive to support high quality, integrated, patient centred care in an aged care setting and how obstacles involved in operationalising this incentive can be overcome. Please find responses to questions asked from this webinar series here.
The following short (2 – 5 minute) video series produced by Southeast Melbourne PHN featuring Dr Billy Stoupas quickly explains MyMedicare and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive from the perspective of a GP.
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Video 1 - MyMedicare and an overview of GPACI
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Video 2 – detailed video on GPACI and service and
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Video 3 – information on registration
General Practice & GPs - Useful Resources
Residential Aged Care Providers, Carers & Families - Useful Resources
Better Access Mental Health Program
Better Access to Mental Health Care - What's Changing
Better Access is a national initiative aimed at improving access to mental health services through Medicare. It enables eligible patients to receive support from GPs, psychologists, and other allied health professionals.
From 1 November 2025, key changes are being introduced to strengthen continuity of care and streamline service delivery:
- Mental Health Treatment Plans (MHTPs) and referrals must be completed by a patient's MyMedicare registered practice or their usual medical practitioner.
- Prescribed Medical Practitioners (PMPs) — non-GP medical professionals recognised by the GPMHSC — can now participate in mental health case conferencing and provide MHTPs
- Several MBS items will be retired, with mental health services transitioning to time-tiered general attendance items
- Telehealth services will require an established clinical relationship, removing previous exemptions
- Referrals made before 1 November 2025 will remain valid until all sessions are used
These changes aim to support a more integrated, stepped-care approach to mental health, ensuring patients receive the rigth care, at the right time, from the right provider.
Mental Health Check In
The Medicare Mental Health Check In is a free digital service designed to support individuals experiencing mild mental health challenges. It aims to help people build practical skills and confidence to manage their wellbeing.
The service will be rolling out in stages. A new website is now online, offering:
- evidence-based resources
- help understanding what people are experiencing, such as when life feels overwhelming, when you can’t sleep or your mood feels low
- practical self-care tips
Get started today with free access to practical and evidence-based advice and actions to help you feel better and more in control.
From the end of March 2026, we will offer guided programs that use a safe, evidence-based approach to help you manage mild mental health challenges.
Take a step towards better wellbeing | Medicare Mental Health Check In
The purpose of this resource is to support general practices to effectively use dedicated Better Access Mental Health MBS items and time-tiered professional (general) attendance MBS items to deliver comprehensive, planned care for patients.
Additional Information
Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program (BB PIP)
Participating practices that meet the eligibility criteria can get an additional 12.5% incentive payment on every dollar of MBS benefit earned from eligible services through BBPIP. To participate, practices must be eligible, registered for MyMedicare and have added BBPIP as a program in the Organisation Register. All providers are required to be linked to their BBPIP-registered practice.
Commencing 1st November 2025, Practices participating in BBPIP will receive an additional quarterly 12.5% incentive payment on MBS benefits paid from eligible bulk billed services, split evenly between the GP and the practice.
Participating practices and GPs must bulk bill every eligible service for every Medicare-eligible patient to receive the incentive payment.
As of 30 November 2025, 2902 practices were registered for BBPIP. Participating practices will receive their first incentive payment in January 2026.
New eligibility assessments for the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program
General practices and providers can now monitor and confirm eligibility for BBPIP incentive payments with new BBPIP eligibility assessments available through Services Australia.
Practices and providers can use:
- Forecast assessments to monitor and confirm eligibility for BBPIP incentive payments and check if there are any issues with registration or eligible item claims.
- Final assessments to confirm if they have met all BBPIP requirements and view the corresponding incentive payment after the end of the quarter.
- BBPIP payment details to view the Services Australia incentive payment for each quarterly assessment period, available after the quarter ends.
If a practice is registered and meets program requirements, its first BBPIP incentive payment will be made in January 2026.
To ensure smooth payment, practices should:
- Check the registration start date.
- Provide bank details for the practice and all linked providers for BBPIP, even if they previously provided bank account details for other programs.
- Keep accreditation up to date.
- Link all providers with separate provider numbers for each site.
For more information visit the BBPIP website.
Forecasting Tool
Forecast assessments support BBPIP registered practices to check eligibility requirements, monitor bulk billing percentages, and estimate practice payments at any point in the quarter.
