People with eating disorders to get more Medicare-funded treatment

Australians with severe eating disorders have access to a comprehensive treatment plan under Medicare for the first time, including up to 60 appointments with psychologists and dietitians.

Patients with the serious psychiatric conditions including anorexia and bulimia will be able to access up to 40 subsidised psychological services and 20 dietetic services each year from November 2019, the Morrison government announced on Sunday.

Jana Pittman addresses a media press conference about her battle with an eating disorder. Credit: James Alcock

Appearing beside Health Minister Greg Hunt at Sunday's announcement, former Olympian Jana Pittman spoke of the night before her 2007 World Championships 400m win, when she was overcome by "fear and anxiety and self-loathing".

"I went down to the dining room and ate everything I could get my hands on. Everything. All the desserts, all the food you could possibly think of.

"And then it set in: the guilt, the fear the shame, and I spent at least an hour or two hugging the toilet bowl trying to rid myself of that pain and guilt, but no one would know, would they?

"Because the following day I stood up in front to represent my country, won that gold medal and became the world champion, and that’s all we saw," said Pittman, who is an ambassador for InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders.

"This can affect anyone. It doesn’t matter how successful or how great you are."

Health minister Greg Hunt said the program would be introduced and funded no matter who was in government after next year's election because it was a Medicare item.

"It is only right that we recognise these debilitating conditions within our Medicare system. It can’t be hidden. As a parent, I know we need to make this change."

Mr Hunt said the $110 million investment over four years was the largest single step forward in support for people with eating disorders.

"It is the first time there has ever been a dedicated eating disorders item or set of treatment services available under Medicare," Mr Hunt said.

Deadliest mental health condition in Australia

Eating disorders have one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness, with suicide the leading cause of death among these patients. Anorexia is the deadliest mental health condition in Australia.

Around 1 million Australians live with an eating disorder.

Currently patients can access Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions of psychological therapy per year under a Mental Health Treatment Plan, and five sessions with a dietician under the separate Chronic Disease Management Plan.

The change will bring Australia's publicly-funded eating disorder treatment closer to best practice.

The best available evidence shows a patient with anorexia or an eating disorder with complications of comorbid conditions including depression and anxiety need a minimum of 50 psychological and 20 dietetic sessions per year.

A patient with bulimia who begins treatment early needs a minimum of 20 psychological and 10 dietetic sessions per year.

This $110.7 million investment into Medicare will benefit around 30,000 people each year living with the disorders, helping them to get better and stay out of hospital.

The subsidies would save patients and their families up to $90,000 a year

One in four Australians with eating disorders go without basic and essential healthcare or living necessities, according to a survey commissioned by the Butterfly Foundation earlier this year.

One in three said they have gone into debt to pay for treatment, 55 per cent had stopped studying or working due to their illness, and 78 per cent of carers gave up work or study to support their loved one with the conditions, according to the survey of 700 eating disorder patients.

"We know from personal stories shared with Butterfly that thousands of Australians suffer serious financial and complex social stresses due to the prohibitive cost of treatment," Butterfly Foundation CEO Christine Morgan said.

"Today’s long-awaited announcement makes history for those battling eating disorders," she said.

More needs to be done: Labor

In October Minister Hunt announced eating disorders were one of three priorities of the federal government's $125 million first round of funding under its Million Minds Research Mission.

On Sunday Mr Hunt also announced Ms Morgan would become the new CEO of the National Mental Health Commission. She will assume the position in March.

Labor shadow minister for Mental Health Julie Collins and shadow minister for Health Deborah O'Neill welcomed the announcement but said more needed to be done to prevent eating disorders.

"With body image constantly cited as one of the top three worries of young Australians, the absence of a national strategy to tackle this issue in a coordinated way is concerning," ministers Collins and O'Neill said in a statement.

"We need to do better not only at treating eating disorders – but at preventing them and understanding them, with body image a central component of this."