Telehealth and PBS exemptions have kicked in for the areas affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
A state of natural disaster has been officially called for 15 northern NSW local government areas, with a further 12 in Queensland. Here’s what that means for general practice.
The most relevant exemption for GPs is likely to be for the 12-month telehealth rule, which bans providers from billing Medicare for telehealth consultations with patients they haven’t seen face-to-face during the previous 12 months.
There are specific situations which trigger an exemption for this rule, one of which is when patients are affected by a natural disaster.
This is defined in an AskMBS fact sheet as “living in a local government area declared a natural disaster by a State or Territory government”.
Crucially, this only kicks in when a state or territory government declares the specific area is affected – not the federal government.
The AskMBS advisory stated that confirming and documenting this declaration is a “suggested requirement” for a valid claim of the exemption.
As of Thursday afternoon, the NSW government has declared a natural disaster in the following local government areas:
- Ballina,
- Bellingen,
- Byron,
- Clarence Valley,
- Coffs Harbour,
- Dungog,
- Kempsey,
- Kyogle,
- Lismore,
- Lord Howe Island,
- MidCoast,
- Nambucca Valley,
- Port Macquarie-Hastings,
- Richmond Valley and
- Tweed.
Late yesterday, Queensland officially opened disaster assistance for:
- Brisbane,
- Fraser Coast,
- Gold Coast,
- Gympie,
- Ipswich,
- Logan,
- Moreton Bay,
- Noosa,
- Redland,
- Scenic Rim,
- Somerset and
- Sunshine Coast.
Speaking at a press conference earlier in the day, acting Queensland Police commissioner Shane Chelepy said he had put in place “pre-emptive disaster declarations for the disaster districts … including Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Moreton, Brisbane, Redlands, Logan, Scenic Rim and the Gold Coast”.
The PBS has also put in a Continued Dispensing Emergency Measure for anyone affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which will be open until the end of March.
This allows pharmacists to supply medicine at the PBS-subsidised price to patients where there is an immediate need for the medicine but the prescriber is unable to be contacted or is unable to provide an electronic PBS prescription or owing prescription.
When flooding hit Northern NSW in 2022, the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care allowed practices impacted by flooding to extend their accreditation status by an extra 12 months.
The Department of Health and Aged Care also expedited emergency provider numbers at that time, specifically for GPs who were unrestricted providers but could not access their practice or were required to work at a temporary clinic or evacuation centre.
Elective surgeries scheduled for Friday have been cancelled at public hospitals within the impact zone.
The RACGP has an information page for GPs in disaster-affected areas, and the AMA Queensland also has links to various GP-relevant resources.
DoHAC also has a list of resources for patients.
