Medicare rebates for ADHD appointments: telehealth and in person

Medicare may pay a benefit for part of a GP ADHD appointment. The item depends on the service your GP provides, and telehealth has extra eligibility rules. Before you book, ask the practice about its fee, the appointment format and whether you meet the Medicare requirements for video care.

In this article

• What Medicare may cover
• Current Medicare benefits for common GP attendance items
• What you may pay
• Telehealth eligibility and MyMedicare
• Before you book
• Frequently asked questions

What Medicare may cover

GP ADHD appointments are often billed as general attendance services. The treating GP selects the MBS item that best describes the service they provided and confirms whether its requirements are met. An ADHD assessment is not automatically linked to one particular item number or Medicare benefit.

For general attendance items, the time is the time spent in the personal attendance with you. The MBS also requires the service to include clinically relevant work such as taking a history, arranging an investigation or implementing a management plan.

For video appointments, the relevant MBS rules also require either care through your MyMedicare-registered practice, an eligible telehealth practitioner or an applicable exemption.

Current Medicare benefits for common GP attendance items

The table below lists common GP general attendance items. It is not a quote for an ADHD assessment and does not tell a GP which item to bill. Medicare benefits change, so check MBS Online when you book.

Appointment format	Example GP item	Minimum personal attendance time	Medicare benefit, current 1 July 2026
In person	36	20 minutes	$87.10
In person	44	40 minutes	$128.35
Video	91801	20 minutes	$87.10
Video	91802	40 minutes	$128.35

Benefits last checked: 6 September 2026.

Items 91801 and 91802 are video attendance items. They carry an additional telehealth eligibility requirement. Phone appointments use different items and rules, so ask the practice which appointment format it offers.

What you may pay

The Medicare benefit is not the same thing as the practice fee. Each GP or practice sets its own fee. If a practice charges more than the Medicare benefit, the difference is your out-of-pocket cost. A practice may also bulk bill an eligible service.

Ask for the practice fee and its claiming process before you book. The practice can tell you whether it will submit a claim at the appointment or provide the information you need to make a claim.

Use Find a GP to see the current listed options. Check each GP profile or contact the practice directly for fees and appointment availability.

Telehealth eligibility and MyMedicare

For the relevant GP video items, Medicare requires one of the following:

1. You are registered with MyMedicare and the video appointment is provided by your registered practice.
2. The treating practitioner is your eligible telehealth practitioner. This can include a practitioner who has provided you a face-to-face service in the past 12 months. It can also include a practitioner at a practice that arranged a face-to-face service for you in the past 12 months.
3. A specific MBS exemption applies.

A previous video or phone appointment does not count as the face-to-face service for this rule.

MyMedicare is voluntary and free. It does not stop you seeing other GPs or health professionals, but some benefits are linked to your registered practice.

For most people, MyMedicare registration requires a Medicare or DVA card and recent face-to-face visits with the same practice: two visits in the previous 24 months, or one visit for a practice in a remote MM 6 or MM 7 location. Some people facing hardship are exempt from those registration requirements. The practice must participate in MyMedicare, and it must accept your registration.

Do not change your MyMedicare registration just to make a single appointment appear eligible. Ask the practice whether you meet the MBS rule for the appointment it is offering and what options it has if you do not.

Before you book

Ask the practice:

1. Is this appointment in person, by video or by phone?
2. What is the practice fee and what Medicare benefit might apply?
3. Do I meet the telehealth eligibility requirements for this appointment?
4. How will the Medicare claim be handled?

For information about the ADHD prescribing pathway where you live, see ADHD GP prescribing rules in Australia. Those State rules are separate from Medicare billing rules.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• MBS Item 36
• MBS Item 44
• MBS Item 91801
• MBS Item 91802
• MBS Note AN.1.1: eligibility criteria for MBS telehealth
• Department of Health: information for MyMedicare patients
• MyMedicare Program Guidelines, July 2026