A Cranbourne general practitioner (GP) said the Federal Government’s expanded bulk billing incentive would help the clinic keep the critical care amid rising costs.
From 1 November, the scheme has been expanded to support general practices to bulk bill any patient with a Medicare card. Previously, the incentives were only available to children under 16 and concession card holders.
The $7.9 billion overhaul of the bulk-billing system was announced earlier this year as Labor’s election commitment.
GP Dr Mark Overton from Our Medical Cranbourne said the expanded incentive would help the clinic to keep bulk billing for the patients in the area.
The clinic has already offered bulk billing for the consultations ever since it was opened about seven years ago.
“Costs are rising all the time, staff, cleaning, and rental. It makes it harder to be able to bulk-bill,” Dr Overton said.
“What we’ve seen locally is that a lot of other clinics in the area have switched away from bulk billing to private billing, and that’s been really hard on patients.
“But the new incentive means that we’ll be able to keep doing the bulk billing.”
Unlike private billing, where patients pay upfront and then claim a rebate from Medicare, bulk billing means the GP bills Medicare directly and patients pay nothing out of pocket.
But in recent years, many clinics have stopped bulk billing because the rebate hasn’t kept up with inflation or clinic expenses such as rent, wages, and utilities.
According to Our Medical, the new incentive increases Medicare rebates for bulk-billed GP consults by around $20, on top of the existing approximately $40.
Dr Overton noted that doctors had seen patients in the area delaying care if they had to pay extra money to visit them.
“The expansion is really important because GPs are the primary access point for patients into the healthcare system,” he said.
“If patients delay coming to see us, and then their problems get worse, and then they get sicker, and then they end up in the hospital, and it’s just bad for everybody.”
Our Medical CEO Henry Batemen said the bulk billing expansion is the most significant update to universal primary healthcare in a decade.
“It is ensuring bulk billing is available to more Australians and sustainable for doctors,” he said.
The Federal Government aims for nine in 10 GP visits to be bulk billed by 2030, tripling the number of fully bulk-billing practices nationwide to 4800.
According to a media release, already over 1,000 GP clinics have indicated that they are going to transition to become 100 per cent bulk billing clinics, including many in the south east.
Bruce MP Julian Hill said: “Doctors and practices are making the shift because they know it is good for patients, and it is good for their bottom line.
“Delivering on this election commitment lifts up our entire nation and ensures no one is held back, and no one is left behind.”
