Medicare support for psychological care has been problematic for many years. At the National Conference, the Australian Mental Health Party will propose several areas of reform to directly address and resolve these issues.
More appointments for those who need them
In the current Medicare system people can access up to ten visits of psychological care per year. Research consistently shows that this level of care is woefully inadequate for the majority of people seeking help (click here for a summary). There are two possible solutions to this problem: (1) providing a higher upper-limit of appointments, or (2) moving away from a fixed number of sessions and towards a more open-ended or time-based model. A relatively simple change in policy might allow up to six months of uninterrupted therapy with review. Importantly, our party would like to see reforms where GP review allows further care for those who need it.
Revising diagnostic and referral limitations
As it stands currently, people can only access psychological support from Medicare with a GP referral and a diagnostic label for a mental disorder. For many, this limitation prevents help-seeking due to stigma, concerns about implications for work and access to insurance, or simply because people may not wish to label their distress in that way. There’s also the additional problem of the approved list of disorders for Medicare being somewhat out-dated, relying on older diagnostic codes which have either been replaced already or are about to be changed next year. Put simply, Medicare support cannot be provided for those who experience a type of distress which isn’t on the approved list (page 11 of manual). We believe that some of these restrictions may need to be revised as they impose significant barriers to accessing care for vulnerable populations. People shouldn’t need to see a GP for the sake of a piece of paper or be tagged with a label in their medical file, just to get some help. There are better ways to manage the key concerns around this and we intend to explore those possibilities.
Access to a wider range of therapies
When Medicare access to psychological support was first conceived a decade ago, it was based on an older system of brief GP-delivered interventions called ‘focused psychological strategies’ (more info here). This brief set of techniques was typically trained in two-day workshops, which is in stark contrast to the training of psychotherapists across the mental health disciplines in more comprehensive evidence-based therapy approaches. Our Medicare-approved shortlist of therapies desperately needs an update as it does not reflect the range of evidence-based approaches therapists are qualified to deliver (see pages 13 and 14 for the Medicare approved list). In order to work effectively and meet the unique needs of each individual, therapists require greater flexibility. Mental health professionals are in the best position to select up-to-date approaches, matched to the presenting needs and preferences of the client, in the context of a person’s current situation. It is not in the interests of people seeking help to have an administrative system which places external limitations on therapy and compromises best practice.
Fairer recognition of practitioner skills
In the rush to establish a simple system for accreditation back in 2006, the government settled on a model which links provider eligibility for psychological treatment items with the professional title of ‘clinical psychologist’. Of course, clinical psychologists are one important type of therapist, however there are many other kinds of skilled mental health care practitioners. The current Medicare model has had a detrimental impact on the diversity of training (for psychology in particular), with other kinds of postgraduate training courses closing down all across Australia (for example). Our party will explore the development of a fairer system to better identify skilled mental health care practitioners. We will develop a new model which can independently verify skills and knowledge relevant to each mental health profession without prejudice or favour. We hope this will resolve tensions within the sector and allow greater focus to return to the needs of people who access therapy.
Consistent levels of Medicare support
Further to the above points, the impact of this fragmented system has been that people seeking care get different levels of support from Medicare depending on who they see. For example, a person may be referred to receive cognitive behaviour therapy for a diagnosis of depression, but depending on which therapist they see, the Medicare system will provide a smaller or larger refund. In our view, the Medicare system should not put people at a financial disadvantage over their choice of therapist. Best practice in mental health care needs to empower the treatment preferences of those who seek help. We will call for a Medicare system with fair and nationally consistent support for all people when they reach out for help.
This is at times a highly charged topic and comments on this thread are moderated. If you are speaking as a mental health care professional please identify yourself to maintain ethical standards and professional respect. Let’s keep the discussion positive and focused on improving the system to benefit people who access care. Thanks in advance.