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Anger that Anthony Albanese’s government reduces the number of subsidized psychology sessions for struggling Australians from 20 to 10
- The government has been criticized for a decision to cut psychologist sessions
- Health Minister Mark Butler announced mental health sessions would be cut in half
- He stated that patients from rural or low socioeconomic areas were missing out
- There were 10 free sessions before the pandemic before this increased to 20 in 2020
The Albanian government has been criticized for halving the number of taxpayer-subsidized treatment sessions for mental health patients.
Health Minister Mark Butler announced that free sessions from psychologists or allied mental health through the Better Access program will go back to 10 in a matter of weeks after temporarily being 20.
Australians were able to claim 10 psychologist sessions on Medicare before the Covid-19 pandemic, and Better Access temporarily increased this number to 20 sessions in August 2020.
The Albanian government has been criticized for a plan to eliminate subsidized psychologist sessions (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Health Minister Mark Butler pictured)
Australians were able to claim 10 pre-pandemic Medicare psychologist sessions before Better Access increased this to 20 in August 2020 (file image)
The health minister said the sessions had been cut after an assessment by the University of Melbourne found that the additional subsidized sessions had increased demand from some sections of the community, leading to long waiting times for others.
He claimed that those from rural and lower socioeconomic areas, as well as elderly care residents, were missing out on sessions compared to better-off patients in cities.
“The assessment that I’m publishing today looked at the impact of those 10 additional sessions and found that they led to a huge increase in the number of services in this sector overall,” Butler said Monday.
“But it found that those additional 10 exacerbated existing waiting lists and access barriers, particularly by the groups I’ve mentioned (people in rural and low socioeconomic areas).”
“The evaluation found that all of the additional services were for existing patients and that the number of new patients who were able to enter the system and gain access to psychology services actually decreased by seven percent.”
However, ABC claimed that the program’s review found that more than 10 sessions were needed for some patients with more acute mental health problems.
“The additional 10 sessions should continue to be available and should be targeted to people with complex mental health needs,” the review reads.
He recommended that a patient needs review could be done after 10 sessions, even if 20 sessions are provided through the program.
Health Minister Mark Butler announced free sessions by psychologists through the Better Access program would be halved, citing an evaluation that found sessions were not being accessed equally.
A Better Health review recommended that patients struggling with their mental health should have access to more than 10 sessions with psychologists (file image)
The Australian Psychological Society, which represents members who experienced increased demand for services as a result of the 20 subsidized sessions, criticized the government’s return to ten.
APS President Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe said: “The government-commissioned Better Access assessment released today found that labor shortages and location are key barriers to patient care, making that the elimination of the program of additional sessions is more difficult to understand”.
“This program provided many people with telehealth or in-person psychological care safely for the first time in their lives, yet many patients will now have to ration or stop treatment altogether.
“Just as people shouldn’t be asked to ration vital medicines like insulin, neither should they ration mental health care,” he added.