Federal budget 2023: Medicare rebate hike for doctors to deliver bulk billing for millions

Labor will more than triple the current incentive payment to doctors — the largest in the history of Medicare — to address a steep national decline in bulk billing.

The federal budget package also includes $99.1m in funding for a new Medicare Benefits Schedule item for longer GP consultations of 60 minutes or more – a key demand of doctors’ groups. Picture: iStock.

Bulk billing will be restored for millions of Australians, with ­incentive payments to doctors who bulk bill children and pensioners set to be worth more than half the Medicare rebate.

Standard consultations currently attract a Medicare rebate of a little over $39, and now doctors will receive at least an extra $20.65 for each eligible patient per consultation if they bulk bill the service. It more than triples the current bulk-billing incentive payment of $6.60. The new bulk-billing incentive payment will be even higher in the regions and as much as $39.65 per patient in remote areas on top of the standard rebate.

The measure forms a $3.5bn centrepiece of the Albanese government’s second budget and is a targeted measure to address the steep national decline in bulk-billing rates. Health Minister Mark Butler resisted calls from the ­doctors’ lobby for across-the-board rebate lifts and opted ­instead for a measure that will mean those most in need pay no gap fees at all, while those who the government deems can afford to subsidise their own healthcare will continue to face a hefty cost.

GP consultations and telehealth

More than 11 million Australians will be eligible for the bulk-billing incentive inducement, including millions of children, pensioners and those on commonwealth healthcare cards. The ­incentives will be payable for common GP consultations, including telehealth and video-conferencing. The big lift in the incentive payments – the largest in the history of Medicare – has been calculated to be roughly equivalent to what doctors have been charging these patients in gaps fees. This will make it difficult for doctors to justify charging children and pensioners any gap fees at all.

“This policy will have immediate benefits for more than 11 million Australians, with flow-on benefits for all Australians,” Mr Butler said.

The tripling of the bulk-billing incentive payment is part of an overall package of $5.7bn for strengthening Medicare, with $2.2 billion going towards funding the key recommendations of a federal taskforce that examined the issue.

The package includes $99.1m in funding for a new Medicare Benefits Schedule item for longer GP consultations of 60 minutes or more – a key demand of doctors’ groups who have been struggling to provide complex care to those with chronic disease within the current maximum MBS 40-minute consultation.

Medicare Urgent Care Clinics

Funding for the Workforce Incentive Program for GP practices will be expanded at a cost of $445.1m over five years, with the maximum incentive payment to practices increased to $130,000 a year, with more clinics eligible. The WIP is designed to allow practices to employ nurses and allied health staff to expand multi-disciplinary teams to care for patients with chronic disease. Those ­patients will attract lump-sum payments if they enrol with a home practice via the new MyMedicare scheme, which will also streamline their health records ­between the GP clinic and hospitals as part of a $98.9m package over four years from 2023–24.

The government has also revealed it plans to build eight more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics to take pressure off emergency ­departments. The eight new clinics are part of a total spend of $358.5m over five years for the clinics.

Labor has resisted pressure to reinstate Medicare funding for extra psychology visits after scrapping the previous government’s policy of subsidising 20 such visits a year. Instead it will funnel $260m into expanding services for those suffering severe mental illness, in line with a recent federal review. The initiative is part of a $586.9m mental health package heavily targeted at bolstering the workforce.

There is also a big spend on digital health, with $429m over two years going towards modernising My Health Record and creating a “national repository” platform to allow record and data sharing across all healthcare ­settings.