Billing & Medicare at Downscale
How our fees work, how Medicare claims are processed, and how to manage your Medicare card on file.
How Medicare works at Downscale
Our Nurse Practitioners hold Medicare provider numbers and can process telehealth rebates where clinically appropriate. Your clinician assesses eligibility at consult and submits the Medicare claim on your behalf — you don't need to lodge anything yourself. Rebate availability varies by consultation type and patient circumstances.
Consultation fees
Initial Consultation
Your final out-of-pocket cost
25 min • Billed at the start of your consult
Where Medicare applies, your final cost is $59. Where it doesn't, the fee is $79. Eligibility is assessed by your clinician at the consult.
Standard Review
10 min • Billed at the start of your consult
Your final cost is $59 either way. Where Medicare applies, the upfront card charge is higher temporarily — Medicare refunds the difference to your account within 1–2 business days.
Portal Review
Existing patients
5 min • Prepaid at booking • Via the Downscale Portal
No Medicare claim — flat fee, included in your prepaid booking.
How your card is billed
The price shown on each card above is your final out-of-pocket cost — not what hits your card.
Where Medicare applies (assessed at the consult), the upfront card charge is higher than your final fee — Medicare refunds its portion directly to your bank account, usually within 1–2 business days. The clinic submits all Medicare claims for you at the point of consultation — you don't lodge anything yourself.
Where Medicare doesn't apply, the card is charged the fee shown — no rebate, no surprise.
Your care, your cadence
Many telehealth weight services require you to consult every single month, regardless of how you're going. We work with you — exactly the way your GP does. You book a review when you need one: a Standard Review while you're settling in, a Portal Review for a quick check-in when things are going well, or a longer gap as your clinician advises.
What that means in practice:
- No locked-in next consult. We don't auto-book you and we don't pressure you to come back. Your clinician will suggest a sensible interval — the booking is yours to make.
- No subscription. You're not paying a monthly fee whether you've seen us or not.
- The patient portal is included free. Resources, treatment guides, progress tracking, a direct line to the clinic. Not a paywalled app. Not SMS-only.
- Something exciting is around the corner — a new portal feature coming soon, included free for every Downscale patient. We'll share more when it's ready.
Couples and partners — supporting you both
Many of our patients book consultations together. Not just for accountability — but because the things that actually make weight management work in a household happen across both partners: how you eat together, how you sleep, how you manage stress and unexpected food cravings, how you both navigate side effects that come up along the way.
The patient portal includes resources for all of this — behavioural strategies, sleep support, managing binge or emotional eating, side-effect guidance. Patients who go through this alongside a partner consistently tell us it's easier.
Each of you has your own clinician, your own clinical record, and your own treatment plan. Because all our consults are telehealth — phone or video, your choice — we can schedule your appointment times back-to-back, so it's easy to debrief together afterwards. Same approach, same care, for both of you.
Your Medicare card on file
We require your Medicare card details on file for clinical purposes, including electronic prescriptions. You can add or update your Medicare details inside the patient portal.
Manage Medicare in Portal →Billing questions?
Our team is happy to help with any billing or payment queries.
Email: office@downscale.com.au
ABN: 23 693 026 112
ACN: 693 026 112