North Coast Primary Health News | 7 July 2026

Assignment of Medicare benefits changes
from 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026, updated requirements apply for assigning Medicare benefits when a service is bulk billed. Assignment of benefit (AOB) is the process where a patient agrees for their Medicare benefit to be paid directly to the provider as full payment for the service, meaning the patient has no out-of-pocket cost for that service.

There is a 12-month transition period where patients can provide a verbal assignment, providing practices time to update workflows, train staff and confirm software arrangements without needing to make every change immediately.

Learn more + keep up to date

Healthy Towns launched in Wauchope

2 weeks ago, alongside Port Macquarie Hastings Council and Hastings Medical Centre, we launched an innovative program that will help Wauchope residents stay connected and age well.

Watch the news coverage

New peripheral neuropathy HealthPathway

Supporting early recognition, outlining key red flags, and helping clinicians decide when to investigate, manage, or refer patients with neuropathic symptoms.

View the new pathway

Support your patients to screen for bowel cancer

Only 2 in 5 people who receive the bowel cancer screening kit in NSW take the test.

Resources available

Better Health Stories Winter edition released

Community Wellbeing & Resilience program making a difference in the Northern Rivers, driving better health through local innovation, and recapping the Health Through Ages and Stages Conference.

Read now