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What does the $573m women’s health package mean for GPs?
Labor’s plan, matched by the Coalition, includes new PBS listings for contraceptive pills and MHT, new rebates, funded training, and bolstered Medicare payments for IUD insertions.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said that currently, ‘medical misogyny is embedded in Medicare’.
The Federal Government has unveiled a half-a-billion-dollar women’s health package, designed to offer greater choice and lower costs to patients across Australia.
Labor’s $573.3 million plan, announced on Sunday, includes a mix of short and long-term healthcare promises and was immediately matched by the Coalition, further securing the pledge’s rollout ahead of the looming Federal Election.
The package includes:
- New Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listings for oral contraceptive pills – Yaz and Yasmin
- Larger Medicare payments and more bulk billing for intrauterine devices (IUDs) and birth control implants
- A new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments and funding to train health professionals
- PBS listings for menopausal hormone therapies (MHT) – Prometrium, Estrogel, and Estrogel Pro
- Eleven new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics
- Two new national trials for pharmacy access for contraceptives and treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs)
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright welcomed the funding package, saying that currently, ‘medical misogyny is embedded in Medicare’.
‘The college has been asking for a long time to remove this gender bias, which meant that you get paid $222 for doing a vasectomy, but only $77 for putting a long-acting contraceptive (LARCs) in,’ he told
newsGP.
‘This announcement really does recognise the importance of supporting women’s health and also recognising the skills of our GPs in providing this care.’
Dr Sara Whitburn, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Sexual Health Medicine, said the funding package has ‘really responded to what we’ve said about choice, about barriers to contraception and to quality of care’.
‘But it’s also supporting GPs to upskill, to actually be able to provide the skills that women are asking for and doing that in a way that supports them and really recognises that it takes time, and it takes money,’ she told
newsGP.
‘They’ve really been positive around listening to some of the solutions, instead of just listening to the barriers and the challenges, and they’ve also heard when women and health professionals have asked and highlighted areas where there could be improvements.
‘The increase of rebates really goes to decreasing one of the main barriers to access, which is the cost to the user, but also the cost to the practitioner to learn how to put [LARCs] in, to provide them in your clinic, the cost of consumables – these are really good options, but there does need to be support.’
New PBS listings
For the first time in more than 30 years, two new oral contraceptive pills will be added to the PBS from 1 March this year.
It is expected the listings of drosperinone with ethinylestradiol (sold as Yaz and Yasmin) will benefit 50,000 women each year, bringing costs down from $380 annually to $126.40 a year, or $30.80 with a concession card.
The Department of Health and Aged Care also confirmed that work is underway to progress the listing of other contraceptive pills in the future.
Three new MHTs will also be listed on the PBS from 1 March – estradiol (sold as Estrogel), progesterone (sold as Prometrium), and estradiol and progesterone (sold as Estrogel Pro).
It is predicted these additions will help around 150,000 women each year.
Medicare changes
The Federal Government also announced that it will bolster Medicare payments for doctors and nurse practitioners to provide bulk-billed insertion and removal of IUDs and birth control implants.
It says these Medicare rebates will be increased by up to 150%, which will save 300,000 women around $400 in out-of-pocket costs.
More than $25 million has also been dedicated to establishing eight ‘Centres of Training Excellence’ to better train healthcare professionals in the area.
From 1 July 2025, new Medicare rebates are also on the way for menopause health assessments, designed to help women experiencing menopause and perimenopause get appropriate care from their GP.
Funding will be provided for health professionals to undertake additional training in menopause and perimenopause, as well as for the development of national clinical guidelines, and a national awareness campaign to help women have informed discussions with their doctor.
Access to healthcare
The package includes an additional 11 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics to be rolled out across Australia.
All 33 of the total clinics will also be expanded to provide specialist support for menopause and perimenopause.
The Federal Government will also spend more than $100 million on two national trials for the treatment of uncomplicated UTIs and over-the-counter contraceptives in pharmacies.
These trials will begin in early 2026 and will see 250,000 concession cardholders able to consult a trained pharmacist at no cost and, if medications are required, pay only the usual medicine cost.
However,
similar pharmacy trials have been slammed by the RACGP in the past, with the college labelling this changing scope of practice ‘alarming’ and creating ‘real potential for harm’.
Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said the core driver of this package is to give women greater choice over their healthcare.
‘It’s been very clear to us that women simply haven’t been getting the level of support they deserve through our healthcare system for too long,’ he said.
The funding package comes after extensive consultation held over many years, including with women, healthcare providers, advocacy groups, the National Women’s Health Advisory Council, and two Senate inquiries.
Dr Ka-Kiu Cheung, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Antenatal and Postnatal Care, told
newsGP the new Medicare items, particularly for LARCS, will be welcomed by both women and GPs alike.
‘The Medicare rebates for women’s health care have been significantly eroded over the years, mirroring the issues we see for people with complex or chronic care needs requiring longer appointments,’ she said.
‘Uptake of safe, long-acting contraception has been particularly hampered by poor rebates which have not reflected the cost of providing the service.
‘The Medicare system has not reflected the more complex care needs of some women … this focus on providing more affordable primary care for women aims to address these issues and should be celebrated.’
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