We have created this page to address some of the frequently asked questions that are bobbing up as April approaches.
Please continue to ask questions of us or your health insurer to make sure that you are clear on exactly what is going to change (or not).
- Are these changes going to affect me?
- Can you guarantee that my health fund will pay rebates for the exercise groups that I do?
- I do exercise groups for my fitness and well-being and for preventative reasons. Why isn’t this covered?
- Are you going to stop doing Pilates groups?
- Are the groups going to change?
- Why don’t you have to change your name and remove the word Pilates if you can’t promote that you do Pilates classes?
- I haven’t done Pilates before, but I would like to try it out because I hear it is good for me. Do you still offer Pilates?
Frequently asked questions.
1. Are these changes going to affect me?
It is likely that they won’t, but that will ultimately depend on the insurer that you are with.
Because of the way that we run our groups and because we tick all the other boxes in the requirements laid out in the reform, you will likely still be able to lawfully claim for them.
Please note that if you are attending a group for ‘maintenance’ or ‘fitness’ will not be eligible to receive health insurance rebates under these reforms.
If this sounds like you, see number 3 below.
2. Can you guarantee that my health fund will pay rebates for the exercise groups that I do?
No, we can’t. Even though we are compliant with all the guidelines from the Private Health Insurance reforms, each health insurer can have their own rules about what they will pay rebates for.
If you aren’t happy with what your own Private Health Insurer is providing you, vote with your feet and find an extras package that suits you.
Remember, you can have your hospital cover and extras cover with different companies.
3. I do exercise groups for my fitness, well-being and preventative reasons. Why aren’t these covered any more?
Even though you may be doing an exercise group that is keeping you away from the doctor, away from illness and even out of hospital, it is clear that fitness or maintenance are not eligible for rebates from your insurer. That isn’t just the insurer’s choice, this will be law from April 1 2019.
We are going to be reviewing all of our current participants in our exercise groups to makes sure that you have clear goals which are being addressed in our exercise treatment groups.
4. Are you going to stop doing groups?
No. We are changing the name of the groups formerly known as ‘Pilates equipment groups’ to remain compliant with the reforms.
From now, they will be called Physio Treatment Groups because they are physiotherapy, they are treatment and they are in a group format.
The name change is actually a good thing because it will more accurately reflect our groups anyway!
We will still be providing Pilates mat classes. Nicole is still passionate about providing mat classes.
We hope that not being able to claim health insurance rebates will be weighed up against the quality of her classes and that they can continue.
5. Are the groups going to change?
There is nothing that will need to substantially change.
We will be endeavouring to make sure that everyone has a current set of goals that are relevant to them, and as a result of that, some of the programmes may change and be updated like they normally would.
If anyone has a programme that is completely on the Pilates equipment, we will make sure that there is plenty of variety in the ways of achieving that same goal, whether that goal is one of mobility and flexibility or strengthening and conditioning for their impairment or as part of reaching their goal.
6. Why don’t you have to change your name and remove the word Pilates if you can’t promote that you do Pilates classes?
We can still promote that we run Pilates classes, but the participants in those classes can’t claim a rebate.
Perhaps for this reason, they can’t force a name change on a business.
7. I haven’t done Pilates before, but I would like to try it out because I hear it is good for me. Do you still offer Pilates?
The first question is ‘do you have a condition or an impairment (such an ugly word!) that you would be doing Pilates for, or would it be for fitness and maintenance and well-being?
IF THE ANSWER IS ‘YES’…
If the answer is ‘yes, I am looking for help with eg low back pain’ then the pathway is:
- to have a physiotherapy assessment, and if they recommend therapeutic exercise
- creating an individualised exercise treatment programme for your problem through one-on-one appointments then
- progressing to the physio treatment groups with your programme that you will do in small supervised groups
Your programme may have elements of Pilates as the physio deems necessary.
The groups would not be called ‘Pilates groups’ but ‘Physio Treatment Groups’ for the reasons stated above in question 4, and you would be eligible to claim a rebate from your private health insurer.
As stated above in question 2, even if you are eligible to receive a rebate, it is still up to the individual health insurer as to whether they will allow you to do so.
IF THE ANSWER IS ‘NO’ ….
If the answer is ‘no, I would like to do it to stay strong, flexible, prevent health problems, maintain my current painfree healthy status’ then the pathway is still the same.
That is, you would need to have a physiotherapy assessment, followed by individual Pilates sessions before progressing into the groups.
You cannot claim a rebate from your private health insurer as you are not taking part in the Physio Treatment Groups for help with a problem or ‘impairment’ (that ugly word again!).
Since you are not claiming a rebate, you can do all Pilates-influenced exercises if that is what your physio prescribes.
