The latest Assignment of Benefit update: What the new timeline means for your practice
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Key takeaways
- Updated Assignment of Benefit (AoB) requirements for bulk billed Medicare services begin to take effect from 1 July 2026.
- Use of Tyro Health EFTPOS machines to process bulk bill claims via Medicare Easyclaim is compliant with the updated AoB requirements.
- Medicare Easyclaim bulk bill claiming on Tyro Health EFTPOS automatically prints a compliant post-consultation AoB agreement, which is assigned by pressing the ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ button on the EFTPOS machine.
- 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.
From 1 July 2026, updated Assignment of Benefit (AoB) requirements will begin to come into effect for Medicare bulk billed services.
AoB itself isn’t new. Patients (or an authorised representative acting on their behalf) have always needed to assign their Medicare benefit to the provider when a service is being bulk billed. What is changing is how that consent is required to be collected and managed.
The good news is that Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim already supports the updated requirements, and Medicare Online bulk bill claiming via Tyro Health Online will support them from 1 July 2026.
What’s changing
Key changes will include:
- Practitioners, billing agents and private health insurers no longer have to use a prescribed or approved AoB form, provided the AoB agreement contains all required information.
- Practitioner signatures are no longer required on AoB agreements.
- Practitioners must keep completed AoB agreements for a minimum of two years and provide a copy to the patient if requested.
For practices that don’t collect the AoB agreement and patient signature through the bulk billing claiming workflow (such as Medicare Easyclaim on Tyro Health EFTPOS), the new requirements may introduce additional administrative steps.
Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim is already compliant
Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim is already a compliant AoB solution for PMS-initiated bulk bill transactions on Countertop and Mobile EFTPOS devices.
Later this year, a compliant PMS-initiated and standalone Medicare Easyclaim bulk bill transactions will be available on the Tyro Health Pro Key.
How it works in practice
Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim helps practices capture AoB as part of the following bulk billing process:
- Initiate Medicare bulk bill claim directly from your PMS. After a service has been provided, the provider transmits the bulk bill claim from their PMS using Tyro Health EFTPOS machine with Medicare Easyclaim.
- AoB agreement is generated. The EFTPOS machine prints the AoB agreement for the assignor to review.
- AoB is captured electronically. The EFTPOS machine (and PMS, so practice staff can prompt the assignor) shows the question, “Do you assign your right to benefit?”. If they select ‘YES’, the claim proceeds and a patient receipt is printed confirming the AoB. If they select ‘NO’, the claim is cancelled and is not submitted to Medicare.
- Retain a provider record for compliance purposes. Once the claim is completed, the PMS gives the option to print a practitioner and patient copy of the receipt, helping practices retain AoB records in line with the two-year record-keeping requirements.
Medicare Online bulk bill claiming via Tyro Health Online will support AoB compliance from 1 July 2026
For practices using Medicare Online bulk bill claiming through Tyro Health Online, we’re introducing a new feature to support compliance with the updated requirements from 1 July.
The 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.
How it works in practice
- Initiate a Medicare bulk bill claim. After a service has been provided, raise a Medicare bulk bill claim from your integrated PMS or directly through Tyro Health Online and confirm the patient or assignor’s mobile number.
- AoB agreement is generated and sent via SMS. Tyro Health Online sends a compliant AoB agreement to the patient or assignor for review. The patient or assignor clicks the SMS link to open the agreement and, if they choose to do so, assigns the benefit.
- AoB is captured electronically. The patient or assignor reviews the agreement and selects ‘APPROVE’ on the webpage sent by SMS, assigning their right to benefit and completing the claim submission.
- Provider record kept for compliance purposes. A completed copy of the AoB agreement is automatically stored in Tyro Health Online, where it can be retained to comply with your record-keeping requirements and downloaded to provide to patient.
Do you need to do anything before 1 July 2026?
If you’re already using Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim for Medicare bulk bill claiming, no action is required. If you submit Medicare Online bulk bill claims through Tyro Health Online, from 1 July 2026, Tyro Health Online will support electronic Assignment of Benefit (AoB) for Medicare Online bulk bill claiming.
For practices considering Medicare Easyclaim via Tyro Health, here are a few practical next steps:
- Check whether your PMS integrates with Tyro Health Medicare Easyclaim bulk bill functionality.
View PMS integrations here ›
- Enable Medicare Easyclaim via Tyro Health in your PMS.
Note: Practices already processing claims through another Medicare integration do not require additional Services Australia registration to enable Medicare Easyclaim via Tyro Health in your PMS.
This article outlines how Tyro Health solutions support compliance with updated 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.
