Billing Medicare funded services for new born babies
Following a recent query about billing Medicare funded services for newborn babies, the AMA can advise that a number of options are open to practitioners.
If you are billing for a newborn that has been enrolled but the parents have not yet got the Medicare card, your practice or the parents can call Medicare (132 011) to get the Medicare number. You can also look up the details in HPOS.
If the newborn isn’t yet enrolled in Medicare, parents can do this using their Centrelink online account through myGov, the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app, visit a service centre or by post. They will need to submit the Newborn Child Declaration form they got in their Parent Pack from the hospital or birth centre.
If parents don’t have the Newborn Child Declaration form, they can enrol their newborn by submitting a Medicare Enrolment Application form and 1 proof of birth document at a Medicare service centre.
If there’s an urgent need for a Medicare card, parents can go to a Medicare service centre with the appropriate form and have the Medicare enrolment done on the spot and be given a Medicare number to use straight away.
As long as the newborn is eligible for Medicare you can treat them and bulk bill later when you know their Medicare number. Or, you can bill the parents and provide them with an invoice, so they can claim when the newborn has been enrolled.
Please note, if the newborn’s parents aren’t eligible for Medicare, the child may also not be eligible.
