Rebates and funding

Claiming Medicare, private health and NDIS for sessions booked through Open Therapy.

Today, every session booked through Open Therapy is paid privately in full and you claim your rebate yourself. We issue an itemised receipt for each session with everything a claim needs. Direct claiming is being built.

What this means in practice

1. Pay in full at booking

   Your card is charged the therapist’s published price.

2. Collect your receipt

   An itemised receipt appears under Billing in your account after each session. See Invoices and receipts.

3. Claim it yourself

   Lodge it with Medicare, your private health fund, or your NDIS plan manager.

Medicare

To claim a Medicare rebate for psychological services you generally need a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP before your first session, and the therapist must be eligible to provide services under it.

1. See your GP

   Ask about a Mental Health Treatment Plan. The appointment usually involves a short assessment.

2. Check the therapist accepts Medicare

   Their profile lists funding types with a tick or a dash under Rebates and funding. You can also filter the directory by Medicare rebate.

3. Give them your plan and referral

   Upload it to Documents in your account, or bring it to your first session.

4. Claim after each session

   Lodge the receipt through the Medicare app, myGov, or at a Medicare office.

A Mental Health Treatment Plan covers a set number of subsidised sessions per calendar year. Your GP reviews it part-way through. Rebates cannot be claimed on a session you didn’t attend.

Private health extras

If your policy includes extras cover for psychology, counselling, speech pathology or dietetics, you can usually claim part of the fee. Annual limits apply, and you can’t claim both Medicare and private health for the same session.

Check the therapist’s profile for whether they’re recognised by your fund, and check your policy for your remaining limit.

NDIS

Whether you can use NDIS funding depends on how your plan is managed:

Plan management	Booking through Open Therapy
Self-managed	Pay in full and claim through the myplace portal
Plan-managed	Pay in full and submit the receipt to your plan manager
Agency-managed	Not currently supported for online booking

Disability support workers are engaged differently — by roster and service agreement, invoiced after each shift, with plan managers billed direct. See Therapist profiles.

Not currently available

To be plain about it, so you don’t plan around something that isn’t there:

• Bulk billing
• Direct Medicare claiming at the point of payment
• Direct NDIS agency invoicing
• DVA and WorkCover bookings

If you need one of these, arrange the session with the practitioner outside Open Therapy, or write to [e-mail].

Finding therapists by funding

Filter the directory by Funding — Medicare rebate, NDIS, or Private health. See Browse the directory.