MBS items 699 and 177 have been given another three years.
Medicare heart health checks will be sticking around for another three years at least, despite lingering questions on its uptake.
It’s not the first time that items 699 and 177 have been saved from the chopping block in the nick of time, having been first introduced to the MBS in 2019 and set to expire in 2023.
The 2023 budget offered a brief reprieve by guaranteeing the existence of the checks until June 2025.
In the lead up to the 2025 budget, 10 cardiovascular research and treatment bodies launched an advocacy campaign to save the items.
“Following the budget announcement the Heart Health Check will be extended for another [three] years, and will no doubt continue to save thousands of lives and identify those who are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease and intervene earlier to address key risk factors,” Heart Support Australia said.
Last month’s federal budget extended the items’ expiry until June 2028.
MBS item 699, which covers heart health checks completed by GPs, is worth $82.90 and lasts a minimum of 20 minutes.
Each check involves a patient history, basic physical examination including blood pressure and cholesterol, initiating interventions as indicated, implementing a management plan and providing the patient with preventative health care advice.
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It can only be claimed once per patient per year.
GPs have long questioned the usefulness of single-purpose MBS items, but Medicare statistics show item 699 was claimed 427,336 times in the two years between January 2023 and February 2025.
This is close to double the 250,000 heart health assessments Health Minister Mark Butler predicted would take place over a two-year period when he extended the items in 2023.
The RACGP’s official position on disease-specific MBS items is that, while there are some exemptions, single-disease items do not accurately reflect person-centred care and treats the disease in isolation from any other aspects of health, leading to fragmentation of funding and “disintegration of the healthcare system”.
