Medicare Rebates for Chiropractic and Dietetics

With the cost of living going up dramatically, being money smart has never been so important. Medicare offer rebates on allied health such as Chiropractic and Dietetics. It's a potential saving of $280 a year!

Who is Eligible for Medicare Rebates?

The short answer - your GP will decide if you are eligible and write your referral.

If you suffer from an ongoing or likely ongoing condition, then you are likely eligible. Some conditions might include:

What details do I need to provide my GP?

Your GP will require your practitioner's name (if you have a preference), profession and address of your preferred practitioner. You don't have to have a name on the form but can instead use the profession - eg: Chiropractor or Dietitian.

To make it easy for you, we have attached below forms which you can print off or email your GP pre-filled.

Please note that your form must be completed including the correct profession and address in order to be valid.

FAQs

I have a referral but it has someone else’s name on it, can I use it?

Maybe. If you have a referral which has the same address and service then you can use it.

For example, if your referral lists one chiropractor at Body & Brain Centre but you’d like to see another at the Centre, then you can. It’s the same profession at the same address.

I have a referral for a practitioner but it has a different address. Can I use this referral?

Unfortunately, you'll need to get the referral re-written to include the correct address. The key bits of information on the referral are the correct address, number of sessions for each profession, GP's signature and date of the referral.

My GP hasn't signed my referral, can I still use it?

With telehealth consultations becoming more popular, many GPs are writing referrals and sending them straight off. Sometimes they will sign it electronically and this is ok - Medicare will still process the referral for you.

My referral has Chiropodist marked. Can I use this at your clinic?

Truthfully, I don't know what a chiropodist is! Do you?

We have registered chiropractors so the Chiropractor box needs to be selected with the number of rebatable sessions. We can't use Chiropodist referrals.

I've only been given a couple of sessions but I think I'll need more. What do I do?

Being a chronic and ongoing health condition, you might require more sessions than Medicare will rebate you for. You can continue your therapy paying privately. If you have private health insurance with extras, you might be able to use that towards your consultation costs. Sometimes, private health insurance give you a higher rebate than what Medicare does so it can turn out to be cheaper, particularly for initial consultations when the gap is larger.

What are all the acronyms?

There's a lot of abbreviations that might get thrown around. These might include:

What do I need to bring along to my appointment?

Can I use private health insurance with the Medicare rebate?

No. You can only use one at a time. Once you have completed your five visits, you may then use your private health insurance.

Please bring in your private health insurance card so that we can process your claim on the spot. This will leave you with only the gap to pay. The amount will vary according to your policy.

Can I use Medicare rebates for online telehealth consultations?

Yes! Find out more about telehealth consultations.

I've finished my 5 sessions. Can I get another referral?

Generally yes you can but it's up to your GP and it must be 12 months after your original referral or in the new calendar year.

If you have a referral for 5 sessions from March 5 2022 and you use all 5 sessions in 2020. Then from January 1 2023, you'll potentially be eligible for another 5 sessions.

If you have a referral for 5 sessions from March 5 2022 and you use 4 sessions in 2022 and one session in 2023 then you might be eligible for another 4 sessions for 2023.

You can use a maximum of 5 sessions per calendar year.

Medicare Forms for GPs