Australian doctors abandon bulk billing, Health Minister ‘terrified’

The cost of seeing a doctor is soaring as paltry Medicare rebate rises force GPs to abandon bulk billing. See full list of what you’ll pay in your electorate.

Patients are facing gap fees of $35-$46 to see a GP as underpaid doctors abandon bulk billing with even age pensioners now being hit with the charges.

And Health Minister Mark Butler says he is “terrified” about the low number of medical graduates choosing to work in the sector.

“I’m terrified at the number of young medical graduates choosing general practice. It used to be about half of all medical graduates did that, now it’s only 15 per cent,” he told ABC Radio National Breakfast.

“We have seen gap fees skyrocket for those who pay gap fees, which is about one in three Australians. The average gap fee to go and see GP now is more than that Medicare rebate itself for the first time in Medicare’s history,” he said.

Health Minister Mark Butler says he is “terrified” about the low number of medical graduates choosing to work in the sector. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Many GP practices were already struggling to stay afloat and the final straw was the tiny 1.6 per cent increase in the Medicare rebate in July at the same time as inflation was running at 6.1 per cent.

The amount Medicare pays a GP who bulk bills rose a paltry 65 cents a visit from $39.10 to just $39.75 on July 1.

Doctors working as registrars in hospitals take a $60,000 a year pay cut to instead work in general practice while electricians and plumbers charge more – $45-$50 for 15 minutes work – than a GP earns.

“The reason this is coming to a head is practices have incurred significantly increased costs over Covid with extra staff required to deal with an extraordinary number of phone calls and PPE,” Queensland GP and RACGP vice president Dr Bruce Willett said.

His practice had moved from being fully bulk billing to charging some patients.

“Some of the doctors in the practice are charging pensioners $15 out of pocket,” he said.

One GP clinic in Sydney’s inner city suburb of Redfern told News Corp in April it would no longer offer bulk billing, and began charging age pensioners $20 out of pocket to see a doctor.

General patients are charged $86.10 for a standard consult leaving them $47 out of pocket after they claim a rebate from Medicare.

Practice manager Stephen Diep said young doctors were refusing to work at bulk billing practices because the pay was so low they couldn’t pay off their $100,000 HECS debt.

Poor pay has made general practice so unattractive the nation is now facing a GP shortage.

Just 15 per cent of medical graduates now want to practice as GPs, down from 50 per cent in the past, according to Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Dr Karen Price.

Dr Bruce Willett says GPs incurred significantly increased costs over Covid with extra staff required to meet demand. Picture: Tara Croser

A Deloitte report has projected shortage of 9,298 full-time GPs by 2030 but as a result of recent policy changes made by Health Minister Butler man rural towns are already losing doctors.

To cope with a shortage of doctors in outer suburban areas and larger regional towns Mr Butler made it easier for foreign trained doctors to work there.

RACGP rural spokesman Dr Michael Clements told News Corp 24 hours after the decision was announced doctors in small bush towns were resigning to move to the city.

Mr Butler has honoured an election promise to spend $1 billion to strengthen Medicare but doctors says it’s not enough.

“I don’t pretend that that’s going to turn things around in one year. There’s a lot of work to do here,” Mr Butler said.

The RACGP is calling for a ten per cent increase in the Medicare rebate for a longer consultation and it was a new Medicare rebate for an hour long consultation with a GP.

Dr Willett said if general practice was not fixed emergency departments at hospitals would be overwhelmed.

Originally published as Australian doctors abandon bulk billing, Health Minister ‘terrified’