The federal government will allocate $47.7 million in next week's budget to reintroduce bulk-billed video telehealth psychiatric services for Australians living in rural and regional areas.
The service was cut by the previous government in December last year, but Labor made an election promise to restore it.
New South Wales South Coast general practice manager Annette Pham said the loss put a huge amount of pressure on already overstretched rural and regional doctors and emergency departments.
"We were devastated when we lost funding for telehealth psychiatry because it denied access to the most vulnerable patients – those with long-term and enduring mental health problems – access to a psychiatrist," she said.
"They would turn up at emergency departments and would be back at a GP a couple of hours later.
"People probably did lose their lives over this."
Ms Pham said the average cost of a consultation was about $250, which many people could not afford to pay up front.
She said many psychiatrists stopped providing the telehealth service once it was cut from Medicare.
'Significant toll'
Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said "a perfect storm of factors" had "taken a significant toll on people's mental health" over the past few years.
"Our rural and regional communities have endured drought, bushfires, floods and the impacts of COVID-19," he said.
When the service was cut, patients had to pay gap fees or give up treatment.
The federal government said reinstating the funding would mean a 50 per cent fee loading to bulk-billed Medicare Benefits Schedule psychiatry services delivered by video telehealth, with more patients able to access support free of charge.
"The Albanese government is restoring these vital mental health services, making them affordable and accessible to people wherever they live," Mr Butler said.
Reinstating additional Medicare support for telehealth psychiatry mental health consultations is expected to support approximately 543,000 consultations over five years.
