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Medicare

Credentialled Diabetes Educators (CDEs) have been recognised by Medicare Australia as the appropriately qualified health care professionals to provide diabetes education.

People with diabetes can claim a reimbursement for the consultation fee for diabetes education provided by a CDE who have been granted provider status by Medicare Australia.  Reimbursements are available from the Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) for both individual and group consultations. However, Medicare requires pecific referral criteria to be met. Persons with diabetes should discuss their eligibility with their General Practitioner or Diabetes Specialist.

Individual diabetes education consultations

People with diabetes can claim reimbursement for a limit of five (5) consultations with an allied health care professional per year as part of Medicare’s Chronic Disease Management (CDM) framework.  Diabetes education provided by a CDE is in included in the total number of these five (5) visits. The specific MBS item number for individual diabetes education consultation is 10951.

For more information about eligibility criteria, please visit the website of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. Alternatively, go directly to Medicare Australia’s online training program for Chronic Disease Management.  

Diabetes education group services in type 2 diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes can claim reimbursements for attending a diabetes educations group program conducted by a CDE. Reimbursements can be claimed for one (1) individual consultation to assess if group education is suitable as well as for eight (8) hours of group program attendance. The MBS item numbers for diabetes education group services are  81100 for the individual assessment and 81105 for group services.  Group consultations are in addition to any individual consultations.

To learn more, please click here to view our power point presentation about MBS items for allied health group services in type 2 diabetes

For more information about eligibility criteria, please visit the website of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. 

Indigenous follow-up services

Indigenous people with diabetes can claim rebates from five (5) follow-up consultations.  The MBS item number for diabetes education follow-up service  is 81305.  These follow-up consultations are in addition to any of the individual and group consultations described above.  For more information about eligibility criteria, please visit the website of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing.

Looking for diabetes education services?

To locate a CDE in your area, please click here to return to the 'Find a CDE' search function on the front of this website. To locate specialist diabetes education centers or services recognised by the National Association of Diabetes Centers, please click here.