From 2015 to 2020, the Federal Government conducted a review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule to consider how medical services can be aligned with contemporary clinical evidence and practice.

The work was led by the MBS Review Taskforce and over 80 clinical sub-committees and working groups. Further information regarding the MBS Review can be found on the Department of Health’s website here.

The AMA stated its support for a review of the MBS, provided it was clinician-led with a strong focus on supporting quality patient care. This included a continuing call for the right mix of practising clinicians on each committee, with genuine input into a process of transparent decision making. The AMA’s support for a review of the MBS was borne from a wish to deliver a new schedule that reflects modern medical practice by identifying outdated items, and ensuring that the schedule incorporated the innovation that has occurred in medicine since the last update. In doing so, the AMA believed it was crucial that any savings from the MBS review be reinvested into the MBS, and that the review not simply be a savings exercise.

The following pages provide access to the AMA’s submissions and related advocacy on behalf of members and the profession, in pursuit of these goals over the course of the Government’s review.