What is the Medicare Rebate Freeze?
The Health Minister, Sussan Ley spectacularly bungled the discussion about the Medicare Rebate Freeze this week. This article by Associate Professor Helen Dickinson explains the history of the rebate freeze and the ramifications of decreasing reimbursement for general practitioners. Please click here for more information.
Medical Services Advisory Committee Reforms (MSAC)
The proposed MSAC reforms have now been implemented despite a large degree of uncertainty about how the process will operate and how the reforms will affect timelines. The change that will most immediately impact sponsors of new technologies that require a new procedure to be included on the Medicare Benefits Schedule, is the new application form. The application form is a substantially more complicated document and will require a greater input of resources to complete. Essentially the barrier to enter the MSAC process has been raised. For advice on the new process and assistance with application forms please see www.medtechnique.com.au.
Be Prepared!
Considering the costs and time involved in submitting an application to MSAC, an assessment of the probability of the application being successful is very useful. Increasingly Medtechnique Consulting is being approached to conduct feasibility studies into the possible success of proposed reimbursement applications in Australia. It is always wise to access the chances of a successful application before investing time and money into complex applications. Please click here for more information.