Assignment of benefit

When you bulk bill a patient, you must obtain a completed assignment of benefit agreement from the patient, or an assignor on their behalf. This confirms that the health professional can claim their Medicare benefit as full payment for the service.

From 1 July 2026, the following changes have been made to the assignment of benefit policy and process:

• assignment of benefit can occur either before or after the service has been rendered to the patient
• new ‘enduring’ assignment of benefit agreements will mean eligible patients will also be able to give consent for ongoing bulk billed GP services
• an assignment can be made either electronically or on paper
• an approved assignment of benefit form will no longer be required, but the agreement must specify particular information as set out in the Health Insurance Regulations 2018
• health professionals need to retain a copy of the assignment of benefit agreement for 2 years from the date the claim is made
• using the notation ‘Patient unable to sign’ is no longer acceptable.

Transitional Arrangements

In response to stakeholder feedback, the Australian Government and Department of Health, Disability and Ageing will introduce a 12-month transition period from 1 July 2026 to help implement the new Medicare assignment of benefit requirements.

The following will apply during the transitional period:

Regulatory amendments will be made to enable verbal assignment of benefit for all bulk billed services. ‘Enduring’ assignment of benefit agreements will start from 1 July 2026 for eligible patients. These transitional arrangements do not affect the new simplified billing requirements, which start on 1 July 2026.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing will provide further updates as the regulatory changes progress.

For the latest information, go to Improving the assignment of benefit process on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website, or email assignmentofbenefit@health.gov.au.

Enduring assignment

Eligible patients can provide consent for ongoing bulk billed GP services through an enduring assignment. This applies to:

• A patient registered with MyMedicare can make one enduring agreement to receive services from all general practitioners at their MyMedicare practice, if offered.
• A patient of an ACCHO or AMS can make an enduring agreement with the ACCHO or AMS, and have multiple agreements with multiple ACCHO or AMS.
• A patient living in a residential aged care home can make multiple enduring agreements with different practitioners.

The enduring agreement templates are available on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website. A copy of the agreement should be retained for auditing purposes in case of a compliance review.

If an enduring agreement is entered into prior to 30 June 2027, it will remain in place for 12 months. Further information will be provided during the transitional period.

Where a manual bulk bill claim is lodged under an enduring assignment, the provider should write ‘enduring assignment provided’ in the assignor signature field.

Verbal assignment of benefit for bulk billed services

If you can’t get patient agreement physically or electronically, you can get verbal agreement from your patient.

You must explain to the patient how you’ll fill in the patient signature field in the assignment of benefit agreement and confirm the patient agrees. If the patient agrees, you need to type ‘assignor verbally agreed’ in the assignor signature field. You must send the completed form electronically to your patient.

If the patient doesn’t agree to assign their benefits, you can send them a private bill for the service.

You must keep a copy of the agreement for 2 years. This is for auditing purposes if you are subject to a compliance review.

Getting verbal agreement is a temporary measure.

These requirements are not applicable to patients accessing health care funded by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA).

Changes from 1 July 2026

Some arrangements apply for services provided before 1 July 2026.

Pathology services

If an assignment agreement is on a referral for pathology tests that was issued up to 12 months before 1 July 2026, it will be accepted and remain valid until 1 July 2027.

Services rendered before 1 July 2026 but claimed after

If you need an assignment agreement to support a manual or resubmitted claim for services rendered before 1 July 2026 but claimed after, you must use the new assignment agreement to show the patient’s agreement.

Assignment types

There are 3 types of assignment agreements:

• pre-assignment agreement - an agreement that is entered into before the service is rendered
• post-assignment agreement - an agreement entered into after the service is rendered
• enduring assignment agreement - an agreement entered into once for ongoing bulk-bill GP services, for eligible patients.

Assignment agreement options

Assignments can be made either electronically or on paper. Examples are listed below.

How you can complete an assignment of benefit electronically:

• The assignment agreement particulars are emailed to the patient, and the assignor responds agreeing to the assignment.
• The assignment agreement particulars are part of the practice booking software, and the patient agrees to the assignment when booking their appointment.
• The practice sends the patient a text message with a link to a form that includes the assignment agreement particulars. The assignor accepts the assignment by selecting a check box on the agreement form.

How you can complete an assignment of benefit by paper:

• The practice creates their own paper form with the assignment agreement particulars, and the assignor physically signs it.
• The health professional prints the HPOS Assignment of Benefit form when lodging an Assignment of benefit Medicare bulk bill Webclaim form, and the assignor physically signs it.
• The health professional prints the Medicare Online Assignment of Benefit form when lodging a Bulk bill voucher - electronically transmitted claims form through their practice management software.

You can still opt to use the standard Services Australia assignment of benefit forms but this is not mandatory.

When submitting a claim using Easyclaim

If you’re submitting a claim using Medicare Easyclaim, you can get consent for assignment of benefits from the patient or the patient’s parent, guardian or other responsible person using the EFTPOS terminal. Press the OK or YES button on the EFTPOS terminal.

Definition of assignor

The person required to accept or sign an assignment of benefit agreement is the person who would have incurred the medical expense for the service/s rendered and who would, in the absence of the assignment, be entitled to payment of the Medicare benefit. This is not always the same person as the patient.

Definition of a responsible person

Responsible person refers to an adult person accompanying the patient or in whose care the patient has been placed. This responsible person can assign a benefit on behalf of the patient.

A responsible person can include someone who is any of the following:

• the parent or guardian
• holds power of attorney
• holds a guardianship order
• the next of kin.

This does not include any of the following:

• health professional who rendered the service
• health professional’s staff
• hospital proprietor or staff
• aged care home proprietor or staff.

Removal of patient unable to sign policy

The ‘unable to sign’ indicator will no longer be an option for bulk bill claims submitted after 1 July 2026.

If you use this indicator, your claim may not meet requirements and may need to be corrected and resubmitted.

Patient unable to complete agreement - deceased

You and the patient must have entered into a bulk bill agreement at the time of service. This must include having the patient accept the assignment of benefit agreement.

If the patient has not signed the agreement, agreement from a responsible person is acceptable.

A responsible person can be:

• the executor of the will
• an appointed administrator.

You must not write patient deceased as a reason for a patient who has not accepted an assignment of benefit agreement.

Record keeping requirements

You must retain a copy of the assignment of benefit agreement for 2 years from the date the claim is made.

Patients no longer are required to keep a copy of the assignment of benefit agreement but you must give the patient a copy if they request it.