Telehealth Campaign
What are the issues?
What can you do?
Write to your local federal MP, and let them know how telehealth has improved your access to medical care, and your concerns about this service being made less accessible for people with chronic illnesses like ME/CFS.
Step 1 - draft an email about your experiences with telehealth
Open your email program and draft an email about your experiences with telehealth. There is a template below which you might like to copy and paste, and tailor to suit your own experience. Feel free to use as much or as little of the email template as you like. Be sure to remove the text in [SQUARE BRACKETS] before you send it.
Step 2 - find your local MP’s email address
Click on this link to find your local MP’s contact details https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Guidelines_for_Contacting_Senators_and_Members
Step 3 - tell us who you have contacted
When you’ve written to your local MP, let us know! Send us the name of your MP, so we can track which MPs the campaign has reached: meadvocacynetworkaustralia@gmail.com
Email template
Dear [INSERT NAME HERE],
I am writing about the changes to Medicare rebates for telehealth services and the impact these changes have on me, as someone who lives with a chronic illness.
I live with ME/CFS, which is a disabling chronic illness which affects many parts of the body. Because of my condition, I have difficulty undertaking many ordinary daily activities, including attending medical clinics for appointments with my doctor.
[FEEL FREE TO BRIEFLY EXPAND THIS WITH YOUR OWN PERSONAL STORY.]
Telehealth has been wonderful for me because [SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE BENEFITED FROM TELEHEALTH REBATES.]
I’m concerned that the changes to telehealth rebates will make healthcare less accessible for me, because: [CHOOSE WHICH ARE RELEVANT TO YOU FROM THE LIST BELOW]:
· I can’t (or it’s very difficult for me to) get to a medical clinic because I’m housebound or bedbound, which makes it hard for me to meet the requirement of a face-to-face appointment with my GP.
· Due to my condition, I am unable to tolerate video consultations, so I rely on phone consultations.
· My healthcare is complex, and my medical appointments tend to be long. I rarely get through everything I need to in 20 minutes.
· My GP clinic is already less willing to offer telehealth appointments.
· I’m concerned that the proposed 80/20 and 30/20 rules will only discourage my GP from offering telehealth.
Please consider the needs of people like me, and advocate for the government to:
· Create an exemption to the face-to-face rule for people housebound or bedbound with chronic illness. It should be left to the doctor’s clinical judgement as to when a patient needs to come into the clinic.
· Reinstate telehealth rebates for long phone consultations for those patients who need them.
· Encourage the use of telehealth services to increase access to healthcare. The proposed 80/20 and 30/20 rules discourage GPs from offering telehealth services.
Healthcare access is a basic human right and is also proven to be cost-effective. Medicare rebates for telehealth services have improved access to healthcare for people like me, though these are now being restricted. Please ensure that there is #NoOneLeftBehind by supporting access to telehealth rebates for people housebound or bedbound with chronic illness.
Sincerely,