WellBeing – August 2019

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AUSTRALIAN NATURAL THERAPISTS ASSOCIATION

Natural therapies and private health cover

Where to now? A report by the Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA)

T

he recent removal of 16 natural

therapies from the list of

treatments approved for private

health insurance rebates is one

of the most significant measures to affect

the Australian natural health landscape

in decades.

In the aftermath of the ruling, many

therapists are trying to understand the

impact of the changes upon their business

and clientele and what the future holds

for private health cover rebates. What can

therapists do to minimise any impact and

how worried should they be? What is being

done to reverse this decision and where do

we go to from here?

ANTA’s overview of the private

health reforms

Executive Officer and Company

Secretary of ANTA (Australian Natural

Therapists Association), Jim Olds, was

ANTA’s representative on the Australian

government’s Natural Therapies Review

and Assessment Committee, the advisory

group formed to undertake the review of the

Australian government rebate on private

health insurance for natural therapies.

Olds, a former ANTA board member

for 19 years and a clinical practitioner

(in myotherapy, remedial massage and

nutrition) for 28 years, says the excluded

therapies were chosen from an original list

of 31 items listed for review.

“Rules have been made to exclude

these natural therapies from the definition

of general treatment under section 121–10

of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007,”

he says. “Insurers will then not be able to

offer benefits for these therapies as part of

a complying health insurance policy.”

Effective from 1 April this year, the

following modalities were excluded:

Alexander technique, aromatherapy,

Bowen therapy, Buteyko, Feldenkrais,

Western herbalism, homeopathy, iridology,

kinesiology, naturopathy, Pilates, reflexology,

Rolfing, shiatsu, tai chi and yoga.

How will this decision aff ect the

natural therapies industry?

While the ruling has caused understandable

anxiety among the natural therapy

community, Olds points out that the majority

of ANTA members aren’t affected: “Of the 16

items losing private health fund rebates, only

five are on the ANTA-recognised course list

as therapies delivered by ANTA members.”

These are aromatherapy, Western herbalism,

homeopathy, naturopathy and shiatsu. “Even

then, not all funds recognised these five

modalities for health rebates,” he reminds us.

Therapists offering remedial massage,

myotherapy, nutrition, traditional Chinese

medicine (which covers acupuncture and

Chinese herbal medicine) and Ayurvedic

medicine are still able to claim private

healthcare rebates as per usual.

Olds estimates between 2000 and

3000 ANTA members within the branch

of remedial massage and myotherapy

are unaffected by the rebate changes:

“In naturopathy, we have more than 2000

members that are directly affected by it.”

Suggesting clients shop around for

another health fund isn’t a viable solution;

all health funds are bound by the reform.

“Under the health act they had no choice,”

Olds explains. “They were directed to

remove the 16 existing natural therapies

from their scope of offering to their

members or subscribers.”

Regardless of the decision, natural

therapies are surging in popularity. Within

Australia, the industry experienced 1.4

per cent annual growth between 2014

and 2019, generating $4 billion in revenue

per annum, according to a 2018 report by

market research company IBISWorld. It also

provides employment for over 37,000 people

and supports 29,000 businesses. The report

attributes increasing demand to the growing

acceptance of alternative or complementary

therapies and Australia’s ageing population.

With natural therapies surging in

popularity, and demand for preventative

healthcare growing, the recent curb on

rebates seems a backward step for the

health of the Australian public. What’s

behind it?

Background information behind

the decision

The review resulted from uncontrolled listing

of services by health funds from the 1980s

onwards, Olds says. “People were getting

rebates for joggers or going to the gym and

the health funds had an open slather on

setting up rebates for different things to get

more subscribers on their list. The health

funds themselves created the problem that

brought about the review by having all these

things on their list.”

It appears that lobbying from a group

within the Australian Medical Association

(AMA) resulted in the Chief Medical Officer

being mobilised and remitted to review

their issues, Olds reveals. In 2013, the

Natural Therapies Review and Assessment

Committee was established.

“Therefore, students and therapists

who chose to train in their vocation of

choice were subjected to scrutiny that

was unjustified and imposed on them by

the lobbyists who managed to sway the

Jim Olds, Executive Offi cer and Company Secretary of ANTA, provides background and

guidance on the recent changes to natural therapies private health insurance cover and assures

us it’s “business as usual” for practitioners in the natural health space.

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