When can my care plan be renewed?

[Scruffy1]

Not sure if I can ask here but please help as I am getting confused and this is not helping my situation

When can my care plan be renewed? I have used up my ten visits for the year but need more sessions. My therapist wants my doctor to give me more under allied health as I qualify for a chronic disease management plan which I haven’t used this year.

doctor won’t give me a referral saying he can’t do it but says he can renew my MHCP on the anniversary of when I first got it and I don’t have to wait till the new year.

is this correct? If this is the case I will only have to pay full amount for one or two sessions which will be great

But i was under the impression I couldn’t renew it till January.

I am paying for my next session and will pay for others to see me through the year if it can’t be renewed beforehand.

thanks in advance for any advice

[geoff]

Hi Scruffy1, your mental health plan consists of 10 free visits per year and is renewed the day of your first visit 12 months time, but under certain circumstances, your doctor can provide some extra sessions, this doesn't happen to most people, it's the doctor's discretion.

Once the 10 sessions end you could ask the psych whether or not they can bulk bill you, even if the session is shorter than before, sometimes this is possible but depends on how they feel.

Hope this helps you or perhaps you could get advice from another doctor.

Geoff.