Digital health
Bulk billing changes for telehealth: what's actually different
From 1 November 2025, eligibility for bulk-billed telehealth tightened. Here's what changed, who it affects, and what to do if your previous bulk-billed appointment isn't covered any more.
Medicare bulk-billing rules for telehealth changed at the end of 2025. The changes are subtle but they affect a lot of patients, and we’re still seeing confusion months later. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
What changed
The bulk-billing incentive for telehealth was restructured to favour longer consultations with existing patients of a practice over short consultations with patients who’d never seen the practice before. Two effects:
- Telehealth consultations under 6 minutes are no longer subsidised at the same rate.
- Patients who have not had a face-to-face consultation with the same practice in the past 12 months are no longer eligible for bulk-billed telehealth in the same circumstances.
The second one matters most for telehealth-only providers, because the “existing patient” relationship is a lot harder to evidence when you’ve never met in person.
Who this affects
- Patients getting one-off scripts from a telehealth service they’ve used once.
- Patients getting medical certificates for short illness.
- Patients managing chronic conditions through telehealth-only services who had not registered with a “home” practice.
Who this doesn’t affect
- Patients of GP practices that already see them in person.
- Patients participating in MyMedicare (the voluntary patient registration scheme), which preserves the existing patient relationship for telehealth.
- Mental health telehealth (different MBS item structure).
What we changed
Across our brands, we now make MyMedicare registration the first step for any patient who wants bulk-billed telehealth ongoing. That preserves their eligibility regardless of which modality they use later. Patients who don’t want to register pay our private fee for telehealth and can claim a portion back if they’re eligible.
The bigger picture
Bulk billing for telehealth was never the policy goal in itself. The policy goal was continuity of care: making sure telehealth strengthens the GP-patient relationship rather than replacing it with one-off transactions. We agree with the goal. The transition was clunky but the destination is reasonable.
If you’re unsure whether your last telehealth appointment was covered, the easiest way to check is your Medicare claims history in your Medicare app. If you have questions, our reception team can talk you through your options.