The federal government’s bulk billing changes have helped more Australians see a GP, but peak doctors’ groups say the reforms are only a “down payment” on what they want to see in next month’s budget to help reduce healthcare costs.
New data from the health minister, Mark Butler, released overnight, shows 77.7% of all visits to general practitioners were bulk billed in March, a 2.1% rise since the Albanese government’s moves last November to triple incentives for doctors to take bulk billed appointments.
Between November and March, about 950,000 extra GP visits were bulk billed nationwide according to the government data, with Butler saying more clinics were returning to bulk billing after moving away from the system.
“This is a win all round – for patients, doctors and the health system – and it is helping make Medicare stronger,” Butler said in a statement.
The changes, announced in the May 2023 budget, aimed to encourage GPs to take appointments from families with young children, pensioners and concession card holders.
The government data compares the bulk billing rate between October, before the November increase, and March. Bulk billing rates rose 1.6% in New South Wales (to 82.2%), 1.7% in Victoria (78.5%) and 2.5% in Queensland (76.1%).
The highest rises were in Tasmania, with a 5% rise to 71.3%; Northern Territory, with a 4% rise to 75.5%, and South Australia with a 3.7% rise to 74.4%.
The Australian Capital Territory remains by far the state or territory with the lowest bulk billing rate, with just 52.7% of visits bulk billed in March, and the lowest rise of just 1.3% since October.
The government says the increased GP payments are also encouraging more junior doctors to pursue general practice as their specialty. The government is expanding the number of rural GP training places this year after what was described as a “surge in demand”, with slight increases in rural and remote medicine schemes to boost the number of doctors outside the cities.
The minister said doctors were seeing higher incomes, with bulk billing payments to doctors in major cities increasing by 34% and in regional or rural areas by 50%.
The figures were warmly welcomed by the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, but the heads of both bodies said more must be done in next month’s federal budget.
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AMA president, Prof Steve Robson, said the government should look to invest further in other areas of healthcare to lower costs to see surgeons, specialists and psychiatrists.
“Stabilising the bulk billing rate is good, it’s encouraging … The big message I took from this data is to say, investing in the health system can provide benefits,” he said.
“It’s proof that if we take measures and invest in general practice, we can make care more accessible. This is a lesson to take to other aspects of healthcare around the country.”
“Australians are finding it hard to afford the necessities of life. What are you [the government] going to do next?”
Dr Nicole Higgins, president of the RACGP, echoed that message.
“Funding drives outcomes. After 10 years of neglect of Medicare by successive governments, this demonstrates [that] not only have we slowed the decline in bulk billing, we’ve stabilised it and increased it for those who need it most. That was the purpose of all this: to make sure the people who need it most are bulk billed,” she said.
“It also demonstrates when you invest in the foundations of healthcare, you get results, but we need to have more.”
Higgins described last year’s bulk billing changes in the budget as a “down payment” on wider changes needed in the healthcare system, including to make care more affordable. She suggested changes to the Medicare rebate, to see patients end up with more back in their pockets.
“If I was a patient at the moment and I saw how much my Medicare rebate was being devalued, I’d be going to my local MP and asking why,” Higgins said.
“The rebate hasn’t kept up with the rising cost of care.”
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