‘Funding gets results’: Bulk billing bounces back

Last year’s tripled bulk billing incentive appears to be making a difference, with new Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) statistics revealing a 2.1% increase in subsidised visits since November.
 
According to the new data, 77.7% of GP consultations in March involved no patient payment, with the Federal Government estimating that the overall boost since incentives were rolled out on 1 November last year equated to 950,000 additional consultations.
 
It also found that eligible patients in major cities received a 34% higher rebate following the changes, while for those in regional and rural Australia, it rose by around 50%.
 
However, while RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said the data shows what happens when governments channel funding into general practice, more is needed to safeguard Australia’s healthcare system.
 
‘Funding gets results and it gives us more tools in our toolbox to support the patients who need it most,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘But the Medicare rebate has been frozen for 10 years previously and this is a small downpayment to have a sustainable and thriving general practice and the Government needs to continue to invest in our GPs.
 
‘This data demonstrates once again that if you put money into general practice, you get the desired outcomes.’
 
Tasmania saw the largest increase in bulk billed appointments, up 5% in five months, followed by a 4% rise in the Northern Territory, 3.7% in South Australia, and 2.5% in Queensland.
 
Rates rose by 2% in Western Australia, 1.7% in Victoria, 1.6% in New South Wales, and 1.3% in the Australian Capital Territory.
 
The highest bulk billing rate is in New South Wales at 82.2%, while the lowest is in the Australian Capital Territory, sitting at 52.7%.
 
But Dr Higgins said this step forward could be undone if funding is not bolstered, and if payroll tax changes are not urgently implemented.
 
The college’s calls were echoed by Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler, who doubled down on recent pleas for state leaders to scrap the payroll tax.
 
‘I’m urging them to sit down with doctor representative groups and make sure that these changes in the interpretation of the existing payroll tax rules don’t impact the GPs in a way that effectively neuters or neutralises the impact of the massive investments we’ve made in last year’s budget,’ he told ABC Radio.
 
‘It would be good to have some uniformity across the country that would give certainty to general practice and, I think, to patients who have seen over the last several years, it’s never been harder and more expensive to see a GP than it has been over the last few years.’
 
New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also revealed the percentage of provider fees paid by Medicare for GP attendance was 83% in February.
 
This has steadily declined since 2020, when it peaked at 95% in April of that year.
 
Dr Higgins said this data pointed to a broader concern that ‘general practice is in trouble’.
 
‘We need to get the message out there that general practice is the solution for our healthcare system, and that general practice is accessible and good value,’ she said.
 
‘We’ve got a Federal Budget coming up and it’s going to be very tight, and I’m not overly optimistic that there will be a lot in there for health and general practice.
 
‘I would really like to see our workforce submissions supported to enable us to increase our GP workforce and funding to be able to support multidisciplinary care teams in general practice.’
 
The RACGP’s pre-Budget submission 2024–25 includes calls for parental and study leave for GPs in training, and funding to subsidise training for 1100 international and local doctors to become specialist GPs in regional and rural Australia.
 
Meanwhile, Minister Butler labelled a rise in practice closures as ‘distressing’, saying action is being taken to attract more junior doctors to the GP profession.
 
‘We have seen general practices around the country close down and particularly in regional areas, it’s been very hard to attract general practitioners,’ he said.
 
‘At the end of the day, we also need to recruit more junior doctors into general practice here in Australia, and we’ve seen really over the last several years some of the lowest rates of interest among junior doctors in general practice ever.
 
‘I hope because of the confidence that they see in general practice more junior doctors are taking up general practice as their preferred career but that’s not going to be seen overnight.’
 
The RACGP is also urging the Federal Government to rollout a 20% increase to all Medicare rebates for Level C and D consultations, and a 20% increase to Medicare rebates for general practice mental health items.
 
The Federal Budget will be handed down on 14 May.
 
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