New MBS fact sheet for billing MBS obstetric items in group practice and deferred changes to reclassification of intravitreal eye injections.
Billing MBS obstetric items in group practice
The Department of Health and Aged Care has published a fact sheet on Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) obstetric in group practices. The fact sheet provides guidance to help obstetricians understand MBS billing, particularly where group practice or locum arrangements apply.
You can read the fact sheet on the department's website .
Ophthalmology changes
The private health insurance reclassification of intravitreal eye injections (current MBS item 42738) has been deferred from 1 July 2025 to 1 July 2026.
In the 2024-25 budget the Australian Government agreed to implement the recommendations of the MBS Taskforce relating to ophthalmology on 1 July 2025. This included reclassifying the private health insurance procedure type for intravitreal eye injections performed as an independent procedure without an anaesthetist (current MBS item 42738).
The MBS Taskforce recommended that item 42738 be updated from a Type B to Type C procedure type to reflect that it is a procedure which does not normally require hospital treatment and can be safety performed out-of-hospital. No change to the private health insurance type was proposed for MBS item 42739, which allows for intravitreal eye injections where an anaesthetic is administered by an anaesthetist.
The deferral of the change to the procedure type for MBS item 42738 will support further consultation to better understand the impact on patients and to consider options for supporting access to affordable intravitreal eye injection services.
Further details on opportunities to contribute to the consultation process will be provided in the coming months.
All other changes to ophthalmology services will be implemented on 1 July 2025 as scheduled.
