Information for MyMedicare patients

Benefits

It is voluntary and free to register in MyMedicare.

When you register in MyMedicare, it will notify your general practice that you have chosen them as your regular care team.  Additional funding will be available from the government to help them provide the care you need.

MyMedicare patients will have access to:

• greater continuity of care with your registered practice, improving health outcomes
• longer Medicare Benefit Scheme (MBS) funded telehealth consultations with your GP
• triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders, from 1 November 2023
• more regular visits from your GP and better care planning for people living in a residential aged care home, from August 2024
• connections to more appropriate care in general practice for people who visit hospital frequently, from mid-2024.

If you choose not to register in MyMedicare, you’ll still be able to access the same quality of care from your healthcare providers.

Further registration benefits for patients will continue to be added as part of our commitment to strengthening Medicare.

Eligibility

You’re eligible to register in MyMedicare if you have:

• a Medicare Card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran Card
• face-to-face visits recorded with the same practice, including either:
  • one face-to-face visit for practices in remote locations (MMM 6 and 7)
  • two face-to-face visits for practices in other locations in the previous 24 months.

People who are facing hardship will be exempt from all eligibility requirements. This includes people experiencing domestic and family violence and homelessness.

Parents/guardians and children can be registered at the same practice if one of them is eligible and registered. A parent/guardian must register a child under 14 years and provide consent on their behalf. Young people aged 14 to 17 years can register and provide consent without a parent/guardian.

How to register

You can register for MyMedicare from 1 October 2023 and select your preferred GP at your:

• accredited general practice
• Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service
• Aboriginal Medical Service
• nurse practitioner-led practice with a GP
• other non-traditional practice (who meets the healthcare provider registration and eligibility criteria.

Your chosen practice must be registered in MyMedicare before you can start your own patient registration.

There are multiple ways you can register with your chosen practice in MyMedicare:

• Start the registration process in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app. Check that your practice is registered in MyMedicare before you start. Practice staff will then accept the registration in the MyMedicare system.
• Your practice may start the registration in MyMedicare or you can ask them to do this. This will trigger a registration in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, which you can then complete.
• Fill out a registration form and provide it to your practice. By signing the form, you are giving consent to participate in MyMedicare. Practice staff will then complete the registration in the MyMedicare system.

MyMedicare registration will not prevent you from accessing care from other practices and healthcare providers. The longer MBS telehealth items, the new aged care and frequent hospital users incentives, and from November 2024 Chronic Disease Management items will be linked to your registered practice.

A registration in MyMedicare is only successful when both you and your practice have provided consent to formalise your relationship through one of the processes outlined above.

As part of your MyMedicare registration, your chosen practice and GP will appear on your My Health Record. This will make sure all health professionals you see – for example, at a public hospital – will know who to talk to about your regular care.

If you do not wish for your MyMedicare registration to appear on your My Health Record, you can choose this option in your My Health Record.

Registering with a Medicare Card or DVA Veteran Card

If you hold both a DVA Veteran Card and a Medicare Card, you can register using either. You can only have one registration, which will apply to any relevant Medicare and/or DVA-funded service, regardless of which card you use to register.

If you choose to register in MyMedicare with a DVA Veteran Card, you will need to complete a registration form at your chosen practice.

Registering if you live in a Residential Aged Care Home

If you live in a Residential Aged Care Home, you can register for MyMedicare by completing a registration form provided by your GP or through your Medicare Online Account. You don’t need to physically attend a practice to complete your registration.

Residents of Residential Aged Care Homes will benefit from registering in MyMedicare, with new incentives being introduced in 2024 to support more regular proactive visits and care planning from GPs and practices.

Changing preferred practices or GPs

MyMedicare does not tie you to a particular healthcare provider. You can change your preferred GP within your registered practice at any time.

You can also register with a different practice if you meet the eligibility requirements and the practice is also registered.

Withdrawing your registration

You can choose to withdraw from MyMedicare at any time.

If you register at a different practice, this will automatically withdraw any previous registration and notify the practice.

If you want to withdraw your MyMedicare registration, you can either:

• withdraw from MyMedicare using their Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app
• contact your GP or practice and notify them that you want to withdraw your registration from MyMedicare
• contact Services Australia directly and request to have your MyMedicare registration withdrawn.

Privacy

When you register in MyMedicare, your personal information will be kept secure and your privacy will be maintained.

For more information about how we manage your personal information, see the MyMedicare Privacy Notice.

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