Most families dealing with an eating disorder for the first time are working from the ten-session figure, because that is the number attached to a standard Mental Health Treatment Plan. Ten sessions is not enough for an eating disorder and everyone involved knows it. What far fewer people know is that there is a separate Medicare pathway built specifically for this, and it is considerably more generous.

What it provides

An Eating Disorder Management Plan gives access to up to forty psychological treatment sessions and up to twenty dietetics sessions, across a twelve-month period.

Forty rather than ten. That difference is not administrative. It is the difference between a course of treatment that can realistically do the work and one that runs out somewhere around the point where things are just starting to move.

Who can write one

A GP, a paediatrician or a psychiatrist. Most commonly it will be your GP.

It requires a clinical diagnosis and there are eligibility criteria, which your doctor will assess. Anorexia nervosa is treated somewhat differently to other eating disorders within the criteria, and bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and other specified feeding or eating disorders have additional requirements around severity and impact.

The practical point is this: it is not automatic, and it is not usually offered unprompted. Ask for it by name.

How the reviews work

The sessions are not released all at once. They come in blocks, with reviews built in. Your GP reviews progress at set intervals before the next block becomes available, and the plan itself runs for twelve months from the date it is written.

That structure catches people out if nobody explains it, because a review appointment missed at the wrong moment means an interruption to treatment. It is worth putting the review dates in a calendar at the start. I keep track of session numbers and will remind you, but two sets of eyes on it is better than one.

The dietetics sessions matter

Twenty dietetics sessions sit alongside the psychological ones, and they are not an optional extra. Eating disorder treatment that addresses the psychology while leaving the eating unaddressed tends not to hold.

A dietitian with eating disorder experience is doing something quite different from general nutrition advice, and it is worth asking specifically about that experience. In regional areas many work by telehealth, which widens the field considerably.

What it costs you

The plan gives you a rebate, not free treatment. You pay the session fee and Medicare refunds part of it. For a session with a clinical psychologist the rebate is currently $141.85, and my fee is $225, so the gap is $83.15. Across a long course of treatment that adds up, and it is better to know the figure at the start and plan for it. The full breakdown is on the fees page.

Private health extras may also apply, though not for the same session as a Medicare rebate.

How to ask for it

Book a long appointment with your GP. Say you want to discuss an Eating Disorder Management Plan, using those words, when you book, so enough time is set aside.

Take a written note of what has been happening and for how long: eating patterns, any purging or compensatory behaviours, exercise, and the effect on daily life. Under stress people minimise, and a written list is harder to talk yourself out of than a memory is.

If you already know who you would like to work with, say so, and the plan can name them.

If your GP is unfamiliar with it

Some are, particularly in smaller practices where they may not have written one before. It is a reasonable thing to raise directly, and most GPs will happily look it up. If you meet real resistance, it is legitimate to see a different GP within the same clinic.

You can read more about eating disorder treatment here, about accessing help in regional Victoria, or send an enquiry if you would like to talk through where to start.