MBS Bulk Bill Incentive Items

On 1 November 2023, higher MBS bulk billing incentive items were introduced for Commonwealth concession card holders and patients under 16 years of age.

These items are included in the November MBS schedule:
  • New general support service bulk billing items: 75870, 75871, 75872, 75873, 75874, 75875, 75876.
  • New items for patients enrolled in MyMedicare: 75880, 75881, 75882, 75883, 75884, 75885.
Claim these new items with the following consultation items:
  • MBS Levels B, C, D, and E face-to-face general attendance consultations (and out of rooms, residential aged care facilities and afterhours equivalents).
  • MBS Level B telehealth (video and telephone) general attendance consultations.
  • MBS Levels C, and D telehealth (video and telephone) general attendance consultations, where a patient is registered with a general practice through MyMedicare and receives the service through the practice where they are registered.
  • Level E telehealth (video only) general attendance consultations, where a patient is registered with their general practice through MyMedicare and receives the service through the practice where they are registered.
Factsheets are available from the MBS Online, including quick reference tables for each the MMM areas.

Applying the new MBS items

When you download the November MBS schedule and install it in Communicare, you will now have two relevant BBI items for your MMM area. The old BBI item is still relevant for some MBS items, while the new BBI item has specific items that are relevant. Communicare only allows one Medical default incentive item, so you must decide on a billing strategy. Choose from the following options:
  • Option A - disable the Medical default incentive item in Organisation Parameters > Medicare Claims > Incentive Items and train providers to make their own decision at the point of billing to manually add the correct BBI item where relevant.
  • Option B - make no change, leave the current default incentive item in Organisation Parameters > Medicare Claims > Incentive Items and train providers to manually change to the new BBI or add the new BBI as required.
  • Option C - change the default incentive item in Organisation Parameters > Medicare Claims > Incentive Items to the new BBI item, and train providers to manually change to the old BBI or add the old BBI as required.
Tip: To support clinicians, your Communicare Administrator can shortlist the new items relevant to your health service with a short description. For more information, see Medicare Benefits Schedule Shortlist.
The option you choose depends on:
  • Your understanding of which MBS items are most frequently claimed at your health service and therefore which BBI item is a priority. UseReport > Electronic Claims > Items claimed count by date to review your MBS item usage.
  • An assessment of the change management required to ensure providers know to manually change or add the BBI item where relevant.

MyMedicare status and MBS

Communicare cannot currently store a patient’s MyMedicare registration status in a way that is linked to Services Australia, so it can't be verified as part of the billing workflow.

For updates and more information, see Communicare Customer Portal.