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Government releases detailed breakdown of bulk-billing rates
Find out how your practice compares to the rest of your electorate.
The Department of Health data also includes out-of-pocket costs.
The Department of Health (DoH) has released electoral statistics related to overall bulk-billing rates, percentage of patients with all attendances bulk billed, and average out-of-pocket costs since 2012–13.
The major release of detailed information was made in response to a question from NSW Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, and also includes the same information for non-GP specialists.
Chifley, located in the western suburbs of Sydney, has the largest percentage of patients will all of their attendances bulk billed (96.1%), while Canberra has the lowest (32.9%).
According to the statistics, the national average percentage of patients with all attendances bulk billed has grown from 60.1% in 2012–13, to 65.27% in 2018–19. But this is still vastly lower than the 86.2% of total bulk-billed GP visits regularly touted by the government.
RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon told newsGP the proportion of patients with all attendances bulk billed is a better indication of access to services than total bulk-billed visits, but that neither is an accurate gauge of the value of services that GPs provide.
‘The 32% increase in out-of-pocket fees over the past six years is a clear demonstration of the impact the Medicare freeze has had on both patients and GPs alike,’ he said.
‘Medical inflation has far and away outpaced the Consumer Price Index, and yet the Government still expects GPs to provide world-class primary healthcare on what are essentially 2014 rebates – which, by the way, were already too low.
‘The fact that GPs didn’t charge two in three patients at all last year shows what a heroic job primary care continues to do in the face of continually rising pressures.’
But, Dr Nespolon also cautioned that such a system is not sustainable and that practices should consider the RACGP’s position statement on billing for general practice services.
‘If the Government wants to continue to tout bulk-billing rates as a sign of how strong Australia’s healthcare system is, then they need to dramatically raise Medicare rebates as soon as possible,’ he said.
‘Otherwise, the RACGP believes practice owners should consider their bulk-billing arrangements and what is required in order to continue as a viable business that provides the top quality care Australians have come to expect.’
Solomon in the Northern Territory had the highest average out-of-pocket costs to see a GP in 2018–19 ($48.68), nearly double those recorded in Spence, South Australia ($24.87).
Tasmania was the only state that saw a reduction in the percentage of patients who had all their attendances bulk billed, whereas the proportion in Western Australia grew from 49.11% in 2012–13 to 64.29% in 2018–19.
Burt, in Perth’s south-eastern suburbs, recorded the greatest increase in patients who had all their attendances bulk billed, increasing from 52.8% to 80.7% over the past six years.
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