AAPi's calls for the $150 Medicare rebate, reinstating the 20 Better Access sessions and allowing provisional psychologists to provide Medicare rebates are featured in a story about the impact of psychology session cuts in the Tasmanian Examiner newspaper today.
Tasmanian psychologist Tracey Martin Cole said mental health distress in the community is higher than pre-pandemic levels and that some of her clients were going backwards because of a lack of therapeutic intervention.
"The increase in subsidised visits were beneficial for people in terms of relapse prevention and continuity of intervention.
"Cutting these sessions by half has prevented people from receiving adequate care," she said.
The Federal Government's response is that since the additional 10 sessions were cut, in the first three months of 2023, more than 64,000 additional people have received access to Better Access treatment, compared to the same period in 2022.
Read the full story attached.