Medicare rebate denied?

PhoneJockey · ‎23-02-2017

I have been suffering pretty bad anxiety for about a year or more now. I finally plucked up the courage to quit my job at the call center which was causing most of it and decided to get the help I needed by exposing my issues to my doctor, which was hard for me to even do. I got referred to the psychologist, I was anxious to go because I always think something will go wrong. The appointment went just fine, but now, something has gone wrong. I was told I was entitled to $124.50 back as a medicare rebate. The receptionist said they would do this at the clinic and I would get the amount in my bank account within 24 hours. I googled this and most people received it within 5 days. It has been over a week for me, checking my bank account every single day as I am relying on this money being unemployed as I am living off my savings and am not entitled to centerlink for the full 13 weeks as I quit (even though I quit for good reason!).

Today i received a letter in the mail from medicare saying $0 rebate, "service not claimed". I was told many times I could have a rebate for these sessions, and if this doesn't resolve I won't be going back to the psychologist because it is simply too much money to be spending right now with sessions $170 every fortnight. I feel like I'm an exception and this doesn't usually happen but for some reason it has happened to me. I felt like I was on a good path by going to the sessions and really putting myself out there and now I just feel awful. I cried for a long time when I got the letter.

I called the psychologist office first and they swore up and down that everything has been put through correctly. Then, onto medicare. The lady tells me that they have no record of me having a mental health care plan even though when I was at the office they told me they had a copy of it and I have a copy of it in my hand right now. Now I'm going to be on the phone again to the psychologist office to try and get them to re-send the mental health care plan to medicare... this all just seems so much! As someone with anxiety about even talking on the phone I feel like I'm really being put through the ringer here. Has anyone had any experiences like this? At this point I am just so upset about this experience that I am thinking about not even going to my next appointment.. well, if it doesn't get fixed up i won't be going because of the cost.

PhoneJockey · ‎23-02-2017

Ok so I have now called the psychologist office once again and they said I'd need to speak with the manager who was not there so they organised for her to call me back. She called me back in about half an hour and she said that the mental health care plan had not been "finalised" (even though I have a copy of it which seems just fine, signed by everyone involved, printed out) and they told me now this is the doctors fault! I asked them if this is something they can chase up with the doctor. They said no and I will have to call my doctor. So now I had to call the doctors office to chase it up. Half way through my call to them my internet and in turn, my phone (not their fault of course) cut out as this happens a lot in my area through the NBN. So I had to call them back again on my mobile now. I call them back and they are too busy. They will call me back......

About half an hour, she calls me back again. The girl was very helpful, she said that the mental health plan is still sitting as a "draft" and the doctor hasn't finalised it and she needs to and just to make my stroke of luck even better- MY DOCTOR IS ON ANNUAL LEAVE FOR A WEEK.

So at this point I've made 4 calls, had 2 call backs and I have still not even gotten a solution. I know what the problem is now, but now I just feel anxious and stressed.. What if this doesn't get fixed up? How many more calls will I have to make (like I said, phone calls are a huge anxiety for me), how long will this drag on for, HOW MANY MORE THINGS WILL GO WRONG! The girl at the doctors is going to try and see if another doctor can sign it or what else can be done, oh my goodness what an absolute drama (or nightmare, since I am that dramatic)

MyProfile · ‎25-02-2017

Hi PJ,

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear of this mess up you are stuck in the middle of. Has any progress been made since you posted this?

I really hope that the doctors office can do something about this without you having to wait for your doctor to come back from leave. It's their doctors stuff up that is not only causing you financial difficulty but also emotional distress.

Please don't give up on seeing the psychologist just because of this set back. In life there are lots of set backs, it's all a matter of how we cope with them. This may feel like a big mess, but I'm certain it will get sorted.

The doctor could surely even write to medicare to explain what happened to have the rebate applied retrospectively - it's not impossible! They just might drag their heels in doing it, so be insistent, look out for your interests, you're number 1 to you, so fight for this.

I too use a mental health plan, and am unemployed. Even with the rebateI can't always afford to go, so I stretch out my visits. Just make sure you work on stuff in between sessions.

You mention you have anxiety talking on the phone? Wow, me too! It takes hours, if not days for me to get the courage to make non-personal, and sometimes even personal, calls. It helps me to think about the call afterwards so the next call I can reflect on the experience. I ask myself, was that really so bad? Did they really care if I stumbled over my words?

I hope I've helped comfort you somehow if you are still dealing with this. But hopefully it's already sorted.

Best wishes,

MP