On 11 March 2020, the Australian government announced new services (commencing from 13 March 2020) designed to protect all Australians, especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, those from Indigenous communities and those with chronic diseases and conditions, from COVID-19.

The new additional MBS items were originally only for patients who were COVID-19 positive or at high-risk of being COVID-19 positive. However, these limitations were rescinded in an update on 30 March 2020, with the new items being available to all Australians whether they were deemed to be high-risk or not.

There have been a slew of updates to the Medicare Benefit Schedule over the last 6 weeks with the official MBS website struggling to cope (missing links, incomplete information and error-prone download files). We will try to keep you abreast of the changes, errors and difficulties during these tumultuous times. Stay tuned.