Medicare bulk-billing doctors in the Northern Territory mapped - here’s where to find them
There are two key reasons behind Territory GPs moving to a mixed-billing model of practice, but there are some that still bulk-bill. Find the clinics offering fee-free visits using our special map.
Northern Territory
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Bulk-billing primary health practices in the Northern Territory are becoming a rare commodity.
With a national shortage of doctors and the frozen Medicare rebate to blame, more general practices are turning to a mixed-billing model to survive.
The NT News contacted previously fee-free clinics that recently changed their model of pricing.
In most mixed-billing clinics only people under 16 years old, people over 65 years old and those with concessions such as healthcare cards and veterans cards are not charged a fee.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners NT chair Dr Sam Heard said while bulk billing was attractive for doctors, it was unsustainable in the Northern Territory.
“Every doctor in the world would like to be able to offer their services for free if they could,” he said.
“People are moving away from bulk billing because there’s not enough GPs and it’s a seller’s market.”
He said the only way a lot of doctors would profit from bulk-billing was to reduce the quality and quantity of patient care.
“The only way you could make enough money is seeing up to 10 people an hour,” he said.
“If people want bulk-billing I think they have to understand what sort of service would you get for that money.”
An extreme lack of qualified general practitioners, including at least 70 locally, was the main issue forcing previously bulk-billed practices to introduce fees.
“The consequences of if we have bulk billing at the moment is massive waiting lists,” Dr Harris said.
“Recruiting GPs is really a problem around the Territory — everyone’s struggling.”
At a recent GP summit in Canberra, RACGP president Professor Karen Price said the organisation was urging the Federal Government to increase the incentive for doctors to bulk bill.
“We are calling for an immediate and substantial increase in Medicare patient rebates, and an increase to the bulk-billing incentive by at least two to three times.
“This is particularly important for our rural and remote communities, which we know have poorer health outcomes and life expectancy, as well as those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged.”
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the shortage of bulk-billing clinics was inherited from the previous leaders.
“The former government froze the Medicare rebate for six years, ripping billions of dollars out of primary care and causing gap fees to skyrocket,” he said.
“No wonder young doctors are walking away from general practice in droves.”
The Albanese Government said it was committed to investing in general practice and strengthening Medicare with almost $1 billion ear-marked, Mr Butler said.
This includes $750m to strengthen Medicare and $220m in grants for GPs.
“We are also investing $146 million to attract and retain more health workers to rural and regional Australia through improving training and incentive programs and supporting development of innovative models of multidisciplinary care,” Mr Butler said.
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Originally published as Medicare bulk-billing doctors in the Northern Territory mapped - here’s where to find them
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