Bulk Billing for Mental Health Services?

DDDee · ‎28-09-2020

Morning, my name's Dee. I have a 20 year history with severe clinical depression and social anxiety and go through ups and downs every few years. I'm currently in a really low trough and wondering where to head from here. My issue is that I work full time (low income worker) and am unable to find a psychologist who bulk bills. I know about the scheme where I get mental health plan through my doctor for 10 sessions, however 1. I still need to find $260 to pay upfront before I get the rebate back, 2. From previous experience I've found most psychologists want to see you once a week for a while (and where on earth do people get the money for that) and 3. 10 sessions will only be 2-3 months which is generally when I'm only starting to feel better...when I have to stop. I also need my medication reviewed but I don't have $400+ to see a psychiatrist. It just seems like a constant lose lose situation. Has anyone had any success with bulk billing services for mental health?

DDDee · ‎28-09-2020

I'll also add that I've just read a few threads on this topic, and while other people seem to be paying a little less in general for their sessions I am based in country NSW and don't have many options - most of the psychs' charge min. $250 and psychiatrists' $400+. I could probably pay less if I travelled 2hours north, however I work full time and if I took time off I couldn't afford sessions anyway, catch 22!

romantic_thi3f · ‎29-09-2020

Hi DDDee,

Thank you for your post and for joining us. I hear you. The system and mental health care makes me so frustrated and angry and I'm quite happy to rant and rave all day about it!

What I have found though, is this -

- Weekly is not doable for most people. Sometimes it can be helpful to have the first couple of sessions every 2 weeks or 3 weeks, and then space out the appointments for the rest of the year. When you see a psychologist- just be upfront about your income, so that you can both make the most of the 10 sessions.

- See if you can get a few extra resources or recommendations from your psychologist so that you have this 'in-between session' support. Maybe this can be books, podcasts or online courses - www.mindspot.org.au have free short online courses for both depression and anxiety so you can potentially do this as well as seeing your psychologist.

- Have a look to see if you might be eligible for additional free counselling. You mentioned Country NSW so things that come to mind are ones for farmers, drought and bushfire affected areas. These are separate from the 10 sessions from a MHCP.

- Have you considered online or tele-therapy? A lot of psychologists and psychiatrists work through Skype (and/or similar programs now), so one option could be potentially finding people who bulk-bill but can see you online. Of course it isn't ideal, but it is one way of getting some therapy especially when you're in rural areas.

Hopefully this helps a little bit. It is really disheartening and defeating but I encourage you to keep pushing.

rt

Ms_Mac · ‎31-10-2020

Telehealth psychology treatment means you can now work with psychologists anywhere in Australia by Zoom or telephone either under a GP MHCP or privately, so you can find someone who charges a lot less than $250 a session. Ring around and find someone who sounds good, check out their web pages, email them and ask questions to be sure they sound like what you are looking for, at the price you can afford, make sure they can start you soon, and then get your GP to write a referral to them. I know several registered psychologists locally who charge $140 or $150 a session, with a Medicare rebate of $87 a time. Registered psychologists are fully trained to work clinically and are often more qualified and experienced than clinical psychologists. APS says 42% of clinical psychologists do not have any higher degree in clinical psychology or anything else.

romantic_thi3f · ‎02-11-2020

Hi Ms Mac,

Thank you for adding this! Telehealth has become so popular lately and you are right in that there are so many competitive rates if you look online. Plus with the medicare benefit!

The other thing that I'll add is that now instead of 10 sessions per year with MHCP we can now access 20. This wasn't the case in my last post so for anyone/everyone reading hopefully this is helpful to know.

rt

MB68 · ‎01-08-2022

Like Dee above I have the same barriers to accessing psychology services. I'm in coastal/regional NSW. I spoke to my GP about ongoing depression and anxiety. After 3 years of bushfires, floods, Covid, and recent workplace injury, the skyrocketing costs of living, etc etc, the situation has moved from acute to chronic. My GP made 3 referrals to local counselling/psychology providers. No vacancies, or appointment times, Wait list was over 12 months. GP advised me the situation now in regional areas is becoming life threatening, as vulnerable people can't access services that just don't exist. Professionals are moving away, the gaps in meeting demand is becoming so serious, the GP has stopped referrals and complained to health authorities about the unsustainable situation. I have a Mental Health Plan, which can't be actioned. After 6 moths I got an appointment with Telehealth service only to be told an upfront fee of $160. For those of us on low incomes those costs are unaffordable. Ongoing consults is completely unaffordable, So it means getting the help and care one desperately needs means extremely painful decisions they're forced to make. No money, means no care. And no care means being at serious risk. There are no alternatives. If you don't have the money, your mental health continues on downward spiral. And when I raised the issue with Community Health at the local hospital, at Council, with local charities they just shrug their shoulders. It's an appalling situation that's only getting worse. Is this Australia? How can this system be allowed to operate? After everything that's occurred these last 3 years no one has put in place long term affordable mental health services deal with surging demand as more people are on the edge of the cliff. So even when people reach out there's no where to go. The Mental Health Line is an only available when you're on the verge of a serious episode, so why are we waiting until people are is crisis before they can access services? I've called the Telehealth provider to clarify if there are any Psychologists who bulk bill, but was told I had to ask the practitioner if they could. So a very vulnerable person is now put in a situation where they have to beg to be bulk billed? So I checked my finances and did some calculations, realising I couldn't afford the initial consult and there's no way I could sustain the costs over 8 or 10 consults. So I cancelled the appointment. A round about to no where.