topic Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS in Treatments, health professionals and therapies

Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Fri, 31 May 2024 08:16:00 GMT

Hi All,

Has anyone been able to claim on their super early to treat mental health conditions? I am looking in to seeing if I can claim to cover the cost of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. If depression is life threatening I dont see why TMS cannot be viewed as a potentially life saving treatment.

Be great to hear from anyone who has information on this.

Thanks

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

Croix — Fri, 31 May 2024 16:39:47 GMT

Dear Succulentqueen~

Welcome to the Forum, if you look around you may find others who have been in the same position and how they went.

As far as I know (and I am NOT an expert) the condition need not be life threatening and does induce mental illness.

I suggest you look at the ATO page (they govern such matters) and go from there

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/early-access-to-super/access-on-compassionate-grounds/expenses-eligible-for-release-on-compassionate-grounds

It is so frustrating to need any medical procedure and it is out of reach for financial reasons -good luck

If you can please let us know how you get on, I'm sure other would be interested

Croix

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 09:25:26 GMT

Thank You Croix for your reply and for doing the leg work. The details in that link look promising. Will detail the outcome here.

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 06:24:38 GMT

Hi to anyone reading this, I can confirm that according to the ATO website, an early release of super claim can be made on the basis of having an acute or chronic mental illness. We need to have a gp report and a second report from a specialist in the area. I imagine this would be a psychiatrist or similar. I havent submitted my claim yet but will update on how I go.

No idea if anyone is even reading this forum anymore but hope this info is useful to someone else out there if, like me, you have a useless amount of super sitting around and think its better off invested in your own mind.

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

Croix — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 11:59:40 GMT

Dear SucculentQueen~

Thanks for getting all the info,it will be of help to others in the same situation.

I'm glad you can see a way forward now

Croix

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

xxda — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 09:29:10 GMT

thank you so much for sharing this, I'm sure this will be interested for so many.

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 04:08:17 GMT

Update of process/progress 18/04/25

So this is moving along slowly, mostly due to procrastination....however I am now up to the stage where I have

1/ Researched the treatment and am doubtless about giving it a go.

2/ Researched the clinic I wish to attend.

3/ Obtained a GP referral and submitted to the above clinic

4/ The clinic has assigned a psychiatrist who will assess my me to ensure I fit the criteria. Currently waiting for that appointment to occur on 08/05/25.

Feel free to post questions about any of the above.

Thanks, SQ

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

Croix — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 11:40:04 GMT

Dear SucculentQueen~

Thanks for coming back and giving us an idea of waht has happened. You sound very organized and in charge of your treatment - that really is excellent. I hope you are found suitable and the treatment has a marked positive effect.

I am still very interested in how you find the treatment and the short and long term effects you may expereince. As someone with a full basket of mental health issues including intermittent long term depression I'm always trying to find more avenues.

On practical note I hope you are in a position to replace the super you are using as quickly as is reasonable, it makes a big long term difference as I'm sure you are well aware.

Croix

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 06:11:15 GMT

So...Its been a while. They don't make this process easy but I would also attribute that to my own procrastination and fear of not being approved. At the time I applied, I truly believed it was a longshot. Turns out people are submitting claims for dental implants, gastric bypasses, mortgage issues and so forth.

It's important to to know that you absolutely need to provide multiple forms of written proof to show that you need this money for essential medical treatment. You cannot exploit or undertake this process fraudulently in case anyone is thinking along those lines.

My super fund has now processed 15k with which I can use to have TMS treatment. It can be done.

An interesting thing for anyone reading this is to know that it is now possible to have this treatment with no out of pocket expenses. That is, after going through the gruelling claim process, I've discovered that TMS is now available at selected private hospitals and clinics as an outpatient at zero cost. It's worth noting that this is for first timers only and my understanding is that Medicare eligibility for further top-up sessions are individually reassessed based on how effective the initial treatment was. It is also worth noting that if you choose to pay a gap fee, some clinics have become significantly cheaper than others. For example, there is a clinic located within an affluent inner Hobart suburb that is run by a renowned mental health practitioner. This clinic has gap fees that will likely place you out of pocket by 2.5k. For me, it meant that I could receive the treatment whilst having a holiday by the beach in Tasmania and also afford to rent an airbnb for the duration of my treatment, all at a very reduced price with a beach getaway included... Point being, that the rules have suddenly changed and this treatment has thankfully opened up for everyone to access and I did not need to take anything from my Super fund.

Interestingly, the highly recommended clinic I had lined up in Melbourne did not inform me of alternative affordable options but that's another lengthy story and unfortunately naming places to avoid is not allowed here. Let's see if I can get away with this for a while. Please avoid N----------x in Carlton, Melbourne

I now find myself with 15k I wasn't expecting to have and this will now go towards another treatment I never expected to afford.

For the government to wholly subsidise TMS shows there must be hard evidence that it is effective most of the time.

Don't get to thinking that the government are empathising or care about us, but rather they've worked out that it's cheaper to give this subsidy and save on having to fund bigger psych wards, more beds and employ more psych nurses. That may be my depression talking but it's also true.

This treatment has been around for decades. They're also looking at it's effectiveness on depersonalisation/ dissociative disorders/AuADHD so clearly there's plenty of money to made but ultimately there is good health to be restored.

I hope this is helpful to someone else who has spent years mulling over the point of each breath.

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 06:23:57 GMT

Just to clarify, I did not take a beach holiday whilst getting this treatment done and haven't had the treatment as yet. It was more a badly written tongue in cheek comparison between the over priced Melbourne clinic and the interstate option. The Melbourne option being akin to daylight thievery and being under no obligation to save people in excess of 10K for the same treatment. I hope unethical practices like this will die out once patients catch on to the subsidy.

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 06:01:10 GMT

I start treatment in 4 weeks at an inner Melb clinic which is bulk billing the entire 35 treatments. You need to ask for this and if you are a first timer it should be granted. I was surprised they did not ask me any questions about my social circumstances in order to wipe the gap fees. They also informed me of the 15 extra top up sessions that medicare would cover following the initial 35. After 50 sessions I believe it is not free unless you have a concession card. Clinics differ in what they offer and even different staff at the same clinic will elaborate on the previous staff members info and you will find yourself discovering different treatment options. Gotta say that Ive spoken to plenty of people who aren't sure about the practicalities of what they're telling me which is simply across the board in all areas of customer service these days however it's extra stressful when making healthcare decisions. My advice is to be kind, respectful but assertive in asking questions that favour your mental and financial health. If I had not asked the right questions I would be paying $175 gap fees per session, which was never ever gonna happen. Will write again into the BB ether. Maybe.

Re: Claiming super for medical costs TMS

SucculentQueen — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 03:45:35 GMT

I went in for the Brain Mapping Session which is just a prep procedure prior to getting the actual treatment. Brain Mapping is where they determine where they need to send the magnetic pulses for treatment to be effective. A practitioner of some rank places a small gadget on to your head and it makes a clicking sound until your motor cortex is stimulated enough to make your finger twitch. Mine took a long time and their answer to that was a standard " everyone reacts differently". Pretty much the non-answer the reel off whenever you switch antidepressants so no-one holds them to an outcome. In light of the prevalence of abuse health professionals receive from dissatisfied patients, a non-answer is fair play.

Anyway, its simple, painless and part of the process. I was in the waiting room for longer than it took to do this.