Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the ways in which people are accessing health services and also the ways in which health professionals are delivering services.
The following programs fall under Medicare, which is Australia’s universal health care system:
- The Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) is the listing of healthcare services subsidised by the Australian Government.
- The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS): the Australian government subsidises the cost of a wide range of prescription medicines through 2 separate schemes, the PBS and the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) for eligible veterans and their dependants.
These web reports focus primarily on health care service use and provide a brief overview of expenditure using Australian government benefits paid. These reports do not include other related payments for example from consumers, private health insurers, states/territories, etc.