A rural New South Wales town with one GP almost lost its vaccination clinic at the height of the pandemic because of what has been described as a “ridiculous” and “unjustifiable” Medicare billing rule that needlessly limits access to care.
Under the Medicare Benefits Schedule, doctors can’t claim payment from the government for a Covid-19 vaccination provided in their clinic by a nurse, unless a GP is on the premises to supervise. This is despite nurses being trained to administer vaccines and doing so in other settings without doctor supervision.
