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Updated by Greg Brown November 15th 2002This page iwill cover issues of MRI funding policy in Australia, practical matters related to the current funding method, and the specific requirements of the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) as they become apparent through administering the system.
Australian MR funding policy offers an excellent model as it has used almost all funding methods in succession. Political history suggests we are likely to see more change.
All opinions are those of the cited authors.
Medicare MBS Schedule Fees MRI Funding History MRI funding references in Australian Parliament 1992 - 1998 Health Programme Grants 1998. MRI on the CMB again May 2001 Tender for new MRI Sites Medicare is a universal system of health insurance. It the primary funding mechanism for health services in Australia. The scheme is administered by the health Insurance Commission (HIC) under the control of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services .
Medicare
In Australia discussions of health policy are frequently dominated by issues of funding. CMB codes and conditions are used to administer issues of service delivery. While there is a clear division between publicly and privately funded health service units (hospitals, clinics, medical practices) services in all of these are covered by Medicare payments, so even a cursory examination shows that there is virtually no privately funded medicine in Australia.
The relationship between the public payer and the privately operating practitioners remains strained and at time adversarial.The Australian Healthcare System. An Outline 2001
Medicare Explained
Medicare Statistics
Medicare Benefits Schedule (CMB)
Through negotiation with practitioners a schedule of agreed fees is established for a wide range of services. Practitioners are free to charge what they like for services but benefits are paid on the basis of the CMB. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) produces a schedule of recommended fees that mirrors the MBS.
If the patient is billed personally, they apply to Medicare for the appropriate benefit (or rebate), which they forward to the practitioner along with any gap between the benefit and the amount charged, Practitioners (providers) may elect to bill Medicare directly in a process called bulk billing, in which case they must accept the Medicare benefit as full payment for the service.
- Medicare Benefits Schedule Index
- Medicare Schedule of Fees - Diagnostic Imaging
- MRI fees and CMB codes
The Historical View
The NHTAP years 1986-1992
Australian MRI services commenced with the installation of a privately owned and funded GE SIGNA in Sydney in 1986. The Federal government announced a programme of 5 sites to be installed in major public hospitals to conduct an evaluation of the new imaging technology under the control of the National Health technology Advisory Panel (NHTAP) Each site received an initial capital grant and most were provided with additional capital after 8 years of operation. Scans were funded through a restricted Medicare fee of $280 per scan. NHTAP instituted a system of data collection to analyse the applications of MRI and its effectiveness in altering patient outcomes. A number of sites were added to the programme each obliged to produce 3 years of the prescribed NHTAP data. NHTAP consisted of a panel of Radiologists, a medical physicist, health administrators and officers of the Department of Health. They produced several reports and the study period was wound up in 1992 when a block grant method (HPG) was used to fund the 18 sites set up under that regime.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) does not attract a Medicare benefit. Although a Medicare benefit for MRI services was payable in respect of services rendered at certain hospitals during the evaluation period of the technology, the benefit was withdrawn from 29 July 1992.
By agreement with the States, the Commonwealth contributes to the funding of MRI in the form of grants to the States. These grants enable the establishment of 18 publicly funded machines attached to neurosurgical units at major public hospitals, and the payment of radiologists to treat eligible private (non-compensible) patients. The grants were effective from 1 February 1992, rendering the Medicare benefit item superfluous.
Patients eligible for Medicare and private (non-compensible) patients
are not charged for MRI services at the recognised (public) hospitals specified
hereunder:
| Westmead Hospital | Parramatta (Outer Sydney) | New South Wales |
| Royal North Shore Hospital | St. Leonards (Sydney) | New South Wales |
| Royal Prince Alfred Hospital | Camperdown (Sydney) | New South Wales |
| John Hunter Hospital | New Lambton (Newcastle) | New South Wales |
| Prince of Wales Hospital | Randwick (Sydney) | New South Wales |
| Austin Hospital | Heidelberg (Melbourne) | Victoria |
| Royal Melbourne Hospital | Parkville (Melbourne) | Victoria |
| Alfred Group of Hospitals | Prahran (Melbourne) | Victoria |
| St. Vincents Hospital | Fitzroy (Melbourne) | Victoria |
| Princess Alexandra Hospital | Woolloongabba (Brisbane) | Queensland |
| Royal Brisbane Hospital | Herston | Queensland |
| Townsville Hospital | Townsville | Queensland |
| Royal Adelaide Hospital | Adelaide | South Australia |
| Flinders Medical Centre | Bedford Park (Adelaide) | South Australia |
| Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital | Nedlands (Perth) | Western Australia |
| Royal Perth Hospital | Perth | Western Australia |
| Royal Hobart Hospital | Hobart | Tasmania |
| Canberra Hospital | Woden | Australian Capital territory |
Medi-leak Probe ordered
Canberra
By Carlina Tan-Van Baren
The Health Insurance Commission is investigating a possible Budget leak
that could see a $22.5 million blow-out in the cost of Medicare rebates
for radiology services.
A Senate estimates committee has been told of Health Department concerns
of inside knowledge over the signing of 15 contracts to buy magnetic resonance
imaging units between the printing of budget papers and their release on
May 12 last year.
On Budget night, Health Minister Michael Wooldridge announced the extension
of Medicare rebates for diagnostic services using MRI equipment.
Department officials have told the committee that, after the printing of
the Budget papers, Dr. Wooldridge took the decision to backdate eligibility
for new MRI units which were not yet in service but had been bought on
contracts signed before the Budget was released.
In the light of fears about a possible leak, Opposition health spokeswoman
Jenny Macklin asked Dr Wooldridge who he had discussed the backdating with
before Budget night and whether any of those people were involved in the
contracts under investigation.
Dr Wooldridge said he could not answer the question because he was
not aware of who was under investigation. But he had sought
the investigation in which each of the 15 radiology services would be asked
to sign a statutory declaration of their knowledge relating to the Medicare
rebate changes.
He said the HIC audit would be "very robust". Anyone who perjured
themselves by signing a statutory declaration would be dealt with by the
full effect of the law, Dr Wooldridge said.
Ms Macklin later called for Dr Wooldridge to explain his role in deciding
to backdate eligibility.
"There is no medical need for Australia to have these additional 15
machines and the circumstances under which these contracts were written
must be publicly disclosed," she said.
Press
Release announcing sites awarded new Medicare support
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