Spending on Medicare-subsidised allied health services
The MBS outlines the fee associated with each service item. Table 5 outlines the Schedule Fee and benefit (rebate) listed for individual and group allied health services.
|
Description |
Item number |
Fee ($) |
Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Individual items |
10950, 10951, 10952, 10953, 10954, 10956, 10958, 10960, 10962, 10964, 10966, 10968, 10970 |
63.25 |
53.80 |
|
Group items |
81100, 81110, 81120 |
81.15 |
69.00 |
|
Group items |
81105, 81115, 81125 |
20.20 |
17.20 |
Note: Fees as at July 2019.
Source: AIHW analysis of MBS data maintained by the Department of Health and Aged Care and sourced from Services Australia.
Benefits paid
Medicare paid $446 million in benefits for individual allied health services in 2019, representing a rate of $17,591 per 1,000 population (Table 6). Of this, podiatry had the highest overall benefits paid ($189 million), followed by physiotherapy ($152 million) and chiropractic services ($27 million).
|
Type of individual allied health |
Item number |
Total Medicare benefits paid ($) |
% of total benefits paid for individual allied health items |
Medicare benefits per 1,000 population ($) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander health service |
10950 |
142,631 |
0.0 |
5.6 |
|
|
Audiology |
10952 |
195,497 |
0.0 |
7.7 |
|
|
Chiropractic service |
10964 |
26,679,918 |
6.0 |
1,051.9 |
|
|
Dietetics |
10954 |
24,369,620 |
5.5 |
960.8 |
|
|
Diabetes education |
10951 |
5,212,843 |
1.2 |
205.5 |
|
|
Exercise physiology |
10953 |
19,003,806 |
4.3 |
749.2 |
|
|
Mental health service |
10956 |
515,543 |
0.1 |
20.3 |
|
|
Occupational therapy |
10958 |
4,733,226 |
1.1 |
186.6 |
|
|
Osteopathy |
10966 |
12,816,947 |
2.9 |
505.3 |
|
|
Physiotherapy |
10960 |
151,785,244 |
34.0 |
5,984.2 |
|
|
Podiatry |
10962 |
188,673,432 |
42.3 |
7,438.5 |
|
|
Psychology |
10968 |
3,342,680 |
0.7 |
131.8 |
|
|
Speech pathology |
10970 |
8,717,766 |
2.0 |
343.7 |
|
|
Total individual allied health items |
|
446,189,153 |
100.0 |
17,591.2 |
|
Note: Expenditure results are not adjusted for inflation.
Source: AIHW analysis of MBS data maintained by the Department of Health and Aged Care and sourced from Services Australia.
The total Medicare benefits paid for group allied health services was $2.2 million in 2019 ($87 per 1,000 population) (Table 7). Of this, $1.9 million was for exercise physiology services, around $177,000 for diabetes education services, and around $122,000 for dietetics services.
|
Type of group allied health services |
Item number |
Total Medicare benefits paid ($) |
% of total benefits paid for group allied health items |
Medicare benefits per 1,000 population ($) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Diabetes education – assessment for group services |
81100 |
151,549 |
6.9 |
6.0 |
|
|
Diabetes education – group service |
81105 |
25,426 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
|
|
Dietetics – assessment for group services |
81120 |
81,054 |
3.7 |
3.2 |
|
|
Dietetics – group service |
81125 |
40,937 |
1.9 |
1.6 |
|
|
Exercise physiology – assessment for group service |
81110 |
800,108 |
36.3 |
31.5 |
|
|
Exercise physiology – group service |
81115 |
1,103,876 |
50.1 |
43.5 |
|
|
Total group allied health services |
|
2,202,950 |
100.0 |
86.9 |
|
Note: Expenditure results are not adjusted for inflation.
Source: AIHW analysis of MBS data maintained by the Department of Health and Aged Care and sourced from Services Australia.
Bulk billing
The bulk-billing rate varied considerably between Medicare-subsidised individual allied health services (Table 8a). The highest rates of bulk billing in 2019 were found for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander health services (100%), followed by diabetes education services (85%). Services for speech pathology (15%) and occupational therapy (26%) were least likely to be bulk billed.
Almost all Medicare-subsidised group allied health services were bulk billed in 2019, with exercise physiology having a slightly lower bulk billing rate (92% of assessments and 91% of group services) (Table 8b).
| Individual allied health services | Proportion bulk-billed (%) |
|---|---|
|
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander health service |
100.0 |
|
Audiology |
68.6 |
|
Chiropractic service |
74.4 |
|
Dietetics |
76.9 |
|
Diabetes education |
84.5 |
|
Exercise physiology |
77.2 |
|
Mental health service |
60.1 |
|
Occupational therapy |
26.2 |
|
Osteopathy |
30.5 |
|
Physiotherapy |
74.4 |
|
Podiatry |
75.6 |
|
Psychology |
30.1 |
|
Speech pathology |
15.1 |
Source: AIHW analysis of MBS data maintained by the Department of Health and Aged Care and sourced from Services Australia.
| Group allied health services | Proportion bulk-billed (%) |
|---|---|
|
Diabetes education service-Assessment for group services |
99.1 |
|
Diabetes education service-group service |
100.0 |
|
Dietetics service-Assessment for group services |
99.4 |
|
Dietetics service-group service |
98.4 |
|
Exercise physiology service-Assessment for group service |
91.5 |
|
Exercise physiology service-group service |
90.9 |
Source: AIHW analysis of MBS data maintained by the Department of Health and Aged Care and sourced from Services Australia.