Out-of-pocket GP costs soar 45 per cent for non-bulk billed patients

Australians who don’t get a bulk billed GP appointment are paying more to see a doctor under the Albanese government compared to the average over the previous decade.

EXCLUSIVE

Australians who don’t get a bulk billed GP appointment are paying 45 per cent more to see a doctor under the Albanese Government compared to the average over the previous decade, as higher fees leave patients increasingly out-of-pocket.

The Medicare rebate has only covered 85.62 per cent of the cost of seeing a GP on average since Labor took office in May 2022, down from 90.87 per cent over the nine years of the former Coalition government, according to new analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data.

This means Australians have gone from privately forking out about 9.13 per cent of their doctor’s fees under the Coalition to 14.38 per cent under Labor - an increase of about 45 per cent.

About four in five visits to the doctor are now bulk billed since Labor tripled the rebate for GPs, but out-of-pocket costs have continued to rise for other patients with new AIHW data showing the Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) only covered about 84.58 per cent of average the total cost of seeing a GP in July 2024.

In a comment alongside the data, the AIHW noted the “proportion of fees subsidised through the MBS declined over recent months - after 15 years of relatively (sic) stability”.

Medicare rebates are covering less of the total fee to see a doctor under Labor than on average under the former Coalition government.

The rebate for a GP visit lasting less than 20 minutes is $42.85, while the Australian Medical Association’s recommended fee for this type of consult was about $102 as of December last year.

Coalition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said Australian patients were “feeling the pain” every time they went to pay at the GP reception desk.

Coalition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston says Australians are forking out more to see a GP under Labor. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Fees have reached the highest level on record as Medicare covers less and less of the cost,” she said.

“It has literally never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor.”

Ms Ruston said Australians seeking a doctor were “clearly bearing the brunt of Labor’s cost-of-living crisis”.

Even when excluding data from February 2021 to April 2022 when Covid-19 vaccine appointments significantly higher bulk billing rates, the average patient contribution under the Coalition was only 9.4 per cent - lower than under Labor.

Health Minister Mark Butler says there are more than four million extra bulk billed GP visits since November when Labor tripled the rebate incentive. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Health Minister Mark Butler said bulk billing had been in “free fall” when Labor took office after a “decade of cuts and neglect,” which was why the Albanese Government had significantly increased its investments in Medicare.

“Data shows there has been over four million additional bulk billed visits since (November),” he said.

“In just two years the Albanese Government has increased Medicare rebates by twice as much as the former government did in nine years.”

Separate health department data released earlier in August showed the average patient contribution to a GP visit in Australia was $44.89 in the year to June 2024.

Patients in the ACT paid the most out-of-pocket with a cost on average over the financial year of $51.94, followed by Tasmania with $51.53, Queensland with $45.67, Victoria with $45.11, NSW with $44.65, while in Western Australia it was $44.51, Northern Territory $42.79 and South Australia $38.77.

Originally published as Out-of-pocket GP costs soar 45 per cent for non-bulk billed patients