Medicare Assignment of Benefit changes for bulk billing: a guide for practices
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Key takeaways
- The Australian Government and Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (Department) has introduced a 12-month transition period, giving practices more time to adapt to updated AoB requirements.
- Verbal consent remains allowed during the transition.
- Providers should still keep moving toward digital AoB workflows.
- Use of Tyro Health EFTPOS machines to process bulk bill claims via Medicare Easyclaim is compliant with the updated AoB requirements.
- Medicare Online bulk bill claiming via Tyro Health Online will support the updated AoB requirements from 1 July 2026.
If you’d like to learn more you can watch our on-demand webinar covering the upcoming AoB changes and what they mean for your practice.
The Australian Government and Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (Department) just announced a fresh update on the upcoming Assignment of Benefit (AoB) requirements for bulk-billed Medicare services. The headline? Practices are getting more flexibility and a much-needed longer transition period.
While this news takes some of the immediate administrative pressure off your shoulders, the Department’s core message hasn’t changed: providers and software vendors need to keep moving forward with digital AoB solutions.
What’s changed?
The updated approach introduces a few key adjustments designed to smooth out the transition:
- Verbal consent is staying (for now): You can continue to use verbal consent across all settings for a 12-month transition period, starting 1 July 2026.
- Enduring consent is on the way: From 1 July 2026, enduring AoB arrangements will be introduced for MyMedicare registered patients, aged care residents, and patients attending Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs).
- Focus on education and prevention: until regulatory changes are complete, the Department will focus on education and prevention as practitioners work towards adopting the new requirements. Compliance efforts will be undertaken within a risk-based approach.
What does this mean for your practice?
In the short term, you can breathe a little easier. You have more time to adapt to the new system, and more flexibility in how you capture patient consent over the next year.
But this shouldn’t be a cue to pause everything. The Department has explicitly said that practices and software vendors already working toward the new arrangements should keep that momentum going. Think of it this way: while the runway just got a bit longer, the destination of a modern, digital-first AoB process is the same.
How Tyro Health has you covered
No matter how the regulations shift, Tyro Health is committed to ensuring your Medicare claiming remains smooth and compliant.
Using Tyro Health EFTPOS for Medicare Easyclaim? Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim is already a compliant AoB solution for PMS-initiated bulk bill transactions on Countertop and Mobile EFTPOS devices. Read more about this here.
Using Tyro Health Online for Medicare Online bulk billing and telehealth? Our new AoB feature will enable practices to capture and retain AoB as part of the existing Medicare Online bulk billing workflow, whether claims are initiated from an integrated PMS or directly through Tyro Health Online from 1 July 2026.
By the time the 12-month transition period concludes, we’ll have introduced the new Tyro Health Pro Key EFTPOS device. This next-gen device will fully support compliant electronic AoB for both PMS-initiated and standalone Medicare Easyclaim bulk bill transactions, giving your practice even more flexibility.
Want to dive deeper? For more details on Assignment of Benefit updates or to see how we support compliant Medicare claiming, check out our resources or reach out to the Tyro Health team today.
This article outlines how Tyro Health solutions support compliance with AoB requirements across Medicare Easyclaim and Medicare Online bulk bill claiming workflows. Further information regarding ECLIPSE workflows will be provided as it becomes available.
Disclaimers
Tyro Health provides this article for general information and educational purposes only. The information provided must not be relied upon as legal, tax or financial advice.
