Mental Health Care Plan - 10 sessions???

[ecomama]

Hi peeps

I picked up my Mental Health Care Plan from GP Surgery tonight. She said I had 10 yeah TEN MHCP supported sessions on it. I had to ask the Receptionist 3 times, whether it was correct. Apparently this is correct.

No one has mentioned 10 and I have talked to so many people in the past week about this. Helplines like BB, 1800RESPECT, Blue Knot, the psych's receptionist today. Plus seen members here upset that their sessions had run out mentioning less numbers.

I am a 'front line worker' and our boss says "watch TV news reports to find out what's going on, because I get more from then than from up the line". So I know information is difficult to understand.

I know Psychologists had done a brave thing being our advocate to Govt and asking for more sessions. Did this work? lol

The info is better than TV lol... it's from my Doctor.

Is it because my 'story' is pretty torrid and the traumas are varied and periodically throughout my life?
Please let me know if you have had same number of sessions given on your MHCP?

Not sure if I'll believe it until I'm sitting in front of my new Psych and they say so too.

Thankyou
EM

[Sophie_M]

Hi Ecomama,

Thank you for bringing up this important information around getting mental health support. 

Under a mental health care plan, you are able to access Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions a year with a mental health professional. After the first six sessions, you will need to go back to your GP to receive a referral for another four. GPs can also refer some individuals with a chronic condition or a complex care needs plan for an additional five sessions.

More information on the mental health care plan can be found on the healthdirect website:
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-care-plan

and on the Services Australia website for people with chronic conditions:
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/organisations/health-professionals/topics/education-guide-chron...
 

[ecomama]

Thankyou for explaining that process Sophie, I'll take your word for it.

Anxiety over this too is pretty far out. I observed myself instantly mistrusting the receptionist, even though she's really sweet and lovely.

I began to mistrust my GP. He made a pretty awful mistake on paperwork recently, that I had to have him correct and redo. I became confused and had to ask here.

My anxiety has sky rocketed since last week. It seems to easily increase with an interaction atm.

Thankyou
EM

[Guest_1643]

hey ecomama! cute username

I have just had my 10th session on the MHCP recently - so for me it was the same as you, ten subsidised sessions.

I'm sorry you were worried the GP wasn't really on the ball - i hope you can take your feelings seriously and see what happens, if the trust can't return then maybe he isn't worthy

I'm also feeling a bit confused about my next step after the ten sessions - that's an issue as well - the sessions run out and it's confusing what to do then, if money is an issue.

Some psychologists bulk bill ppl with a healthcare card or have other ways of reducing fees, to help with this a bit. Hope you are doing well tonight!

[Guest_1643]

hey ecomama i dont want to tell you the wrong thing, but have just found out that the govt has extended the 10 to 16 - 6 more sessions....?
I was told that by a therapist on BB helpline.
I had not heard anything about this from my GP or psychologist so i'm wary of it - but this might b the case now?

[Sophie_M]

Hi everyone,

We encourage healthy discussions about how to best receive mental health support, but we would like to pre-emptively remind our posters to also be mindful of not spreading any information that might be incorrect or cannot be verified.

While your GP or local health professional is most commonly recommended as a reputable source, if you do not feel comfortable discussing this with your GP we would encourage you to seek information from other verified sources such as the Australian Government Department of Health website. There is also a section on mental health care on the Services Australia website: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/whats-covered-medicare/mental-health-care-...

We would always encourage you to discuss these concerns with your treating mental health professional first, as health professionals set their own fee structures and will have the best understanding of what services they can offer at what cost.

[Guest_1643]

Hello Sophie, if i broke the rules no problem to delete my post. i don't know if what i wrote is correct at all, was given the information on the BB call line so just want to say it could be incorrect. If that is spreading misinformation that's okay if it needs to be removed. Thanks

[Sophie_M]

Hi Sleepy21,

Thanks for your response and there is no need to change your post as you have talked about where you got this information from, and our posters can always call our helpline for more details on this. Our earlier post was just to act as a reminder that the number of sessions each person can receive for mental health support does vary, so it is always best to do some research first and ask around as different services will offer different things.

[Guest_1643]

no problem.

Didn't want to make anything more confusing, and you're right, we should all go to the GP for the clearest info for us
I will myself try and follow up this info with the GP. Hope everyone can get the best out of the sessions, and that the govt will offer more support for us all at this time.

[ecomama]

Thankyou Sleepy21 and Sophie for your feedback. It's very king of you offering support, it's much appreciated.

Yeah it's a tricky one. My GP had said 10 sessions, so when I see my new ST Psych then I'll ask her too. All good thankyou.

I try to see the other GP as much as possible. I like the one I spoke with but he has made mistakes before, as all humans do, I feel less confident in this one. It goes back to when my son couldn't walk after a skate board accident and he actually asked me 3x what I wanted to do.... eventually I said ummm have an xray? lol. He has an approach that I'm not used to with GPs. Usually it's bam, bam bam this is what we do now. He even asked me to get the new psychs fax number for him lol oh dear.

Basically I'm taking hour by hour atm. What happens in the future is out of my control atm - still within my 'influence' but I'm too tired and worn out to worry atm. Hope that makes sense?

If my sessions run out, then I'll be back to the GP to ask for more. With the events that have happened in my life, even psychs I speak to say, it's a no brainer that I have PTSD.

Throw it on the pile for later.

I am 'thrilled' - probably no word in the English language to describe the feeling - that the new psych phoned today because they received my MHCP. So that's one yay! so yay.

Step by step a little closer.

high five guys
EM - yeah I am an eco mama lol. Thanks for the compliment. 🙂

I'm pretty