Most private health insurance companies
will offer at least a partial coverage of allied health
consultations, including podiatry consultations.
The level of cover that you can claim
will depend on the insurance policy you have chosen
with your health fund, and different policies have different
levels of cover, ranging from complete cover, to partial
cover with a gap payment, to no cover.
Medicare does not generally cover any
Podiatry Consultations. There is nevertheless an Enhanced
Primary Care (EPC) plan in place under Medicare, that
allows patients with specific chronic conditions or
complex care needs to gain access to Medicare rebates
for up to 5 visits per calendar year fom an Allied Health
Provider (e.g., 5 visits to a Podiatrist, or 3 visits
to a Podiatrist plus 2 visits to a Physiotherapist).
This EPC plan must be put in place by the patient's
GP and a special EPC Podiatry referral must be written
by that GP and presented to the podiatry practice.
DVA (Veterans' Affairs)
If you are covered by DVA (Department
of Veterans' Affairs), you will need a DVA referral
(D904) from your GP to see the Podiatrist. This referral
will usually be valid for 1 year, after which it will
eed to be renewed. Without a valid referral, the price
of the consultation will have to be born by the patient.
A reminder letter will be sent to you about 1 month
before the end of the DVA referral period for you to
organise a new one.
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