What is MyMedicare?
The Australian Government introduced MyMedicare as part of an ongoing commitment to strengthen Medicare for all Australians.
It is a voluntary patient registration model, that aims to formalise the relationship between patients, their general practice, general practitioner (GP) and primary care teams.
Baywest Medical Centre has always been committed to providing quality healthcare to all of our patients. While MyMedicare provides more support to General Practices, and it’s introduction allows more flexibility to allow the high quality healthcare we strive to provide, the costs involved in the operation of a General Practice unfortunately still outweigh what is available from Medicare. As such, fees for consultations still apply to appointments booked at our practice, even to our patients with MyMedicare registration.
Eligibility
You’re eligible to register in MyMedicare if you have:
- a Medicare Card or Department of Veteran’s Affairs (DVA) Card.
- face-to-face visits recorded with the same practice, including either:
- one face-to-face visit for practices in remote locations.
- 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.
Benefits
It is voluntary and free to register in MyMedicare.
When you register in MyMedicare, a notification will be sent to Baywest Medical Centre to advise that you have chosen us as your regular care team, at which point the registration will be accepted, and your regular GP in the practice notified.
MyMedicare patients will have access to:
- greater continuity of care.
- 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.
How to register
You can register for MyMedicare using one of the methods below, and then select your preferred GP at Baywest Medical Centre.
There are multiple ways you can register for MyMedicare at Baywest Medical Centre:
- Start the registration process in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile App. Baywest Medical Centre will then accept the registration in the MyMedicare system.
- We may start the registration process in MyMedicare if you ask us to do so. This will trigger a registration in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile App, which you can then complete.
- Ask our friendly reception team for a registration form. By signing the form, you are giving consent to participate in MyMedicare. We will then complete the registration in the MyMedicare system.
MyMedicare registration will not prevent you from accessing care from other practices and healthcare providers. However, 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, Baywest Medical Centre 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.
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 your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile App.
- notify us that you wish to withdraw your registration from MyMedicare.
- contact Services Australia directly and request to have your MyMedicare registration withdrawn.
For further information, please visit www.health.gov.au/our-work/mymedicare/about