Families could save up to $650 a year under ‘free’ Medicare plan
The Prime Minister has promised the biggest overhaul of Medicare in decades as the election looms. Here’s how much it would save you.
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Families and self-funded retirees could save up to $657 a year under the Prime Minister’s ‘free’ GP visit plan depending on the number of visits they make to the doctor and where they live.
The Health Department has crunched the numbers on a range of scenarios for the biggest overhaul of Medicare in decades for singles, couples, families, retirees and young people on a mental health plan and it shows a significant reduction in costs.
Under the proposed changes, Medicare payments for common visits will increase from November 1, 2025, with the expansion of the bulk billing incentive to all Australians and the incentive payment for practices that bulk bill every patient.
The Liberal Party announced on Sunday they wouldn’t “stand in the way” of the plan, accusing the Labor Party of making “a mess” out of bulk billing. Mr Dutton then announced he would not only match the plan but outbid it spending $9billion.
Older family could save $651
Starting with an older family modelled on a typical GP service usage they could save between $264 and $651 a year. That scenario is based on a family of four with two parents in their 50s, and two young adult children in their late teens or early 20s.
One parent has a chronic condition and needs regular, ongoing care from their GP. The young adult children are otherwise healthy, and only see their GP a few times a year, when they come down with an illness or injury.
If their practice shifts to full bulk billing with the support of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program and bulk billing incentive for all Australians, then the out of pocket cost for this older family will be $0 — all of their GP visits will be free.
Younger family could save up to $444 a year
Medicare also modelled on the impact on a younger family with a typical GP service usage for a family of four with two parents in 30s, and two children under five years old.
Under this scenario, the children see their family GP for minor illnesses and vaccinations. The parents are generally healthy, and only see their GP a few times a year.
Younger families with this typical rate of GP service usage may have out-of-pocket costs of between $154 and $444 a year, depending on where they live.
If their practice shifts to full bulk billing with the support of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program and bulk billing incentive for all Australians, then the out of pocket cost for this younger family will be $0 — all of their GP visits will be free.
Retiree couple could save up to $657 a year
As Australians get older, they tend to go to the GP more frequently increasing costs. To explore the impact on an older couple, Medicare proposed the impact on a retired couple who are self-funded retirees in their early 60s, who see their GP regularly to help manage a number of chronic conditions.
They have both recently had a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangement put in place.
Retiree couples with this typical rate of GP service usage may have out-of-pocket costs of between $174 and $677 a year, depending on where they live.
If their practice shifts to full bulk billing with the support of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program and bulk billing incentive for all Australians, then the out of pocket cost for this retiree couple will be $0 — all of their GP visits will be free.
Young man could save up to $109
It’s notoriously difficult to get younger blokes to go to the GP and as a result their savings are the lowest. Perhaps free GP visits might make some young men give the doctor a go more often?
Under this scenario, a young man with typical GP service usage in his 20s is otherwise healthy and only sees a GP for periodic illness or injury.
Young men with this typical rate of GP service usage may have out-of-pocket costs of between $41 and $109 a year, depending on where they live.
If their practice shifts to full bulk billing with the support of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program and bulk billing incentive for all Australians, then the out of pocket cost for this young man will be $0 — all of their GP visits will be free
Young woman could save up to $221 a year
Younger women tend to visit the doctor a bit more, including for contraception advice and issues like endometriosis. This scenario has been modelled on a typical GP service usage for a woman in her late 20s that is otherwise healthy and sees her GP regularly to support her preventive health care and for minor illnesses.
Young women with this typical rate of GP service usage may have out-of-pocket costs of between $90 and $221 a year, depending on where they live.
Young person could save up to $197 a year
Some younger people are taking advantage of GP-led mental health treatment. This young person has been modelled on a typical GP service usage for young adults in their late 20s that is physically healthy and sees their GP for minor illnesses and has a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
A young person with this typical rate of GP service usage may have out-of-pocket costs of between $42 and $197 a year, depending on where they live. If their practice shifts to full bulk billing with the support of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program and bulk billing incentive for all Australians, then the out of pocket cost for this young person will be $0 — all of their GP visits will be free.
What’s the deal with bulk billing right now?
The bulk billing incentive is scaled according to how far a general practice is from a major city or metropolitan area, with larger Medicare payments as communities get more remote.
In 2023-24, less than half of Australians were always bulk billed when they saw a GP, while one in four Australians had most of their GP visits bulk billed.
Bulk billing is also patchy across the country. For example, in western and south western Sydney, over 90 per cent of GP visits are bulk billed, whereas in Canberra patients pay an out-of-pocket cost for just over 50 per cent of their GP services.
Rates of bulk billing also vary according to location and even the type of GP service delivered. For example, a standard GP consultation (under 20 minutes) is bulk billed 74 per cent of the time.
A chronic condition management consultation is bulk billed 99 per cent of the time.
PM tipped to call election as early as next week
Anthony Albanese is tipped to call an April election as early as next weekend after announcing his $8 billion investment in Medicare to deliver “free” GP visits for Australians.
Declaring the 2025 election a referendum on Medicare, Mr Albanese pledged on Sunday to deliver an additional 18 million free bulk billing GP visits.
The government will set an ambitious target of nine out of 10 GP visits being bulk billed — that means free for the patient — by 2030.
It’s understood to be the biggest announcement that the Prime Minister will make during the campaign, unequivocally a big hint he’s poised to call the election and dump plans to bring down a March 25 budget.
After announcing a $2 billion investment to save thousands of jobs associated with the Whyalla steelworks, marking the first interest rate cut in four years and a big-spending plan for Medicare, Mr Albanese is now tipped to call an election as early as next weekend for April 5 or 12.
But in a surprise move the Liberal Party announced on Sunday they won’t stand in the way, underlining the electoral threat that Medicare could torpedo Peter Dutton’s chances of becoming Prime Minister.
Liberals announce they will back the new spending
The Coalition confirmed on Sunday they would match the new spending on Medicare, blunting Labor’s attempts to frame the next election around Mr Dutton’s record as Health Minister a decade ago.
“We’re not going to get in the way of Labor cleaning up the mess that it has made, and it’s important that that mess be cleaned up,” Liberal treasury spokesman Angus Taylor said.
“This is necessary because of Labor’s abject failure when it comes to health, what we have seen is a collapse in bulk billing rates.”
Sky News host Andrew Clennell said he was “shocked” on Sunday that the Liberals were backing the big-spending Medicare plan.
“I’m surprised. I mean, I thought the whole thing from you and Peter Dutton was fiscal restraint,” he said.
“Here they are splashing all this cash to try and get re-elected, and you’re saying, ‘Yeah, well, we’re not going to send them away.’”
Neither side of politics has explained how they will fund the $8 billion spend-a-thon on Medicare.
What the GPs say about the bulk billing plan
AMA president Dr Danielle McMullen praised the investment but immediately raised the prospect that not all GPs would be able to afford to bulk bill even if the government increases rebates.
“While bulk billing incentives will now be available for all patients, it is important for the public to understand that general practices will still need to set their fees based on an assessment of the costs they face in running a modern medical practice,” she said.
“In 2023 our analysis of the impact of that freeze, and years of inadequate indexation found close to $4 billion had been stripped from general practice, and it would be further compounded without reform and investment. The neglect of Medicare by successive governments means the patient rebate no longer bears any relationship to the actual cost of providing high quality services to patients.”
Dr McMullen said the government had taken the AMA’s calls for more investment in general practice very seriously, however more work was still needed to address ongoing issues in GP care.
But the political target of the Prime Minister’s big plan is unmistakably Mr Dutton.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, Health Minister Mark Butler understood the assignment.
“Peter Dutton in 2014 tried to abolish bulk billing altogether, and when he couldn’t do that, when the Senate blocked him, doctors opposed him,” Mr Butler said.
“Instead, what he set about doing was effectively strangling bulk billing slowly by freezing the Medicare rebate now to their credit, Australia, doctors hung on for as long as they possibly could after six years of having their income frozen while their costs continued to rise.
“But at some point, the thing broke, and we inherited a situation when we came to the government of bulk billing being in free fall. They’re not my words. They were the words of the GP’s College, bulk billing was in free fall. So I’m not going to take lectures on bulk billing from a guy who tried to abolish it. Peter Dutton tried to abolish it.”
Originally published as Families could save up to $650 a year under ‘free’ Medicare plan
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