AHPA provided feedback on the proposal to expand the list of health professionals eligible for private health insurance (PHI) benefits under chronic disease management programs (CDMPs).
The focus of this consultation appears to be insurers rather than the allied health sector and the clinicians providing CDMP services.
Despite the current status of the CDMP as an allied health-focused program, there has been no engagement with AHPA or any of the peak associations in the sector to discuss the proposed changes and the consultation was not communicated to the sector, despite our active participation in previous consultations on CDMPs. Despite this, AHPA responded good faith, and encouraged our members to also respond.
It is our hope that the lack of engagement has been an oversight, and that the Department is intending to undertake, or will consider, additional work to better engage with allied health professionals and to shift focus on the clinical design and delivery of CDMPs. It is our view that there are significant opportunities to better draw on allied health providers, many of whom provide PHI general treatment (also known as ancillary) funded services, as referrers and entry points to CDMPs and to help drive better design of CDMPs.
You can read the submission below.