If you’re managing a long-term health condition, you’ve probably heard your GP mention a “management plan” or “care plan” at some point — and just as probably nodded along without fully knowing what it unlocks. It’s worth understanding, because it can meaningfully reduce what you pay for allied health care.
What is a chronic disease management plan?
It’s a structured plan your GP puts together if you have a chronic condition — one that has lasted, or is expected to last, six months or more. Rather than treating each visit in isolation, the plan sets out your condition, current treatment, and the ongoing support you need, and coordinates that care between your GP and other health professionals involved in managing your condition.
Conditions commonly managed this way include diabetes, asthma, heart disease, arthritis, and other long-term conditions with complex care needs — though eligibility comes down to your individual circumstances, which your GP will assess.
What it unlocks: subsidised allied health visits
This is the part most patients actually care about. Once a current management plan is in place, eligible patients can access up to 5 Medicare-subsidised allied health visits per calendar year. These can be used with a single provider — five physiotherapy sessions, for example — or split across multiple allied health professions if your condition calls for a broader team, such as combining physiotherapy with dietetics.
A few practical details worth knowing:
- Referral required. Your GP needs to assess your condition and refer you before you can access subsidised sessions — allied health providers can’t self-determine eligibility.
- The cap is shared, not per-provider. Five visits total per calendar year, however you split them.
- Unused visits don’t roll over. If you don’t use all five in a calendar year, they don’t carry forward to the next.
- There’s usually a gap fee. The Medicare rebate covers part of the session cost, not necessarily all of it, depending on whether your allied health provider bulk bills.
How the GP and allied health team actually work together
The point of the plan isn’t just the subsidy — it’s coordination. Your allied health provider reports back to your referring GP after your first and last session (or more often if clinically needed), so your GP stays across how your condition is progressing rather than treating your allied health care as something happening in a separate silo.
For patients managing something like diabetes or a musculoskeletal condition, that back-and-forth matters. It means your GP can adjust your overall care based on what’s actually working, not just what was planned six months ago.
How to get started
If you have a long-term condition and haven’t discussed a management plan with your GP, it’s worth raising at your next appointment. Your GP will assess whether you’re eligible, talk through your goals, and put a plan together — including any referrals to allied health providers that make sense for your condition.
If you’re already under a plan elsewhere and are switching practices, bring along any existing plan documentation so your new GP can pick up where the last one left off.
Book an appointment
Melbourne Medical & Wellness Centre supports chronic disease management and coordinates with allied health services as part of our general practice care at 2/16 Liverpool Street, Melbourne VIC 3000. Book online via HotDoc or call us on 03 9121 8480.
This article is general information about how chronic disease management plans work and doesn’t replace personalised medical advice. Eligibility and the number of subsidised visits available to you depend on your individual circumstances — your GP will confirm what applies to you.