‘GPs still underfunded’: New report reveals less than one in four Aussie GPs offer bulk billing to adult patients
Less than one in four Aussie GPs offer bulk billing rates to adult patients, a new report reveals. And in one state that number plummets to less than one in 10. See how your state fares.
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Less than a quarter of Australian GPs are offering bulk billing to their adult patients, a new report has revealed.
And in another blow to families battling cost of living pressures, the research found that those patients who are not bulk billed have been hit with higher out-of-pocket costs.
The independent report from healthcare directory Cleanbill detailed the pricing structure of consultations from more than 6800 clinics around the country, and showed that only 24.2 per cent offered bulk billing to adults.
The worst hit state in the country was Tasmania, with less than one per cent (0.9 per cent) of clinics bulk billing adults. The best rate was New South Wales, at 37.2 per cent.
The report also found the national average out-of-pocket cost was $41.69, which was higher than Cleanbill’s 2023 report average of $40.45. The lowest was an average of $38.68 in South Australia but the highest was $51.19 in Tasmania.
The bulk billing rate in Queensland was 17.6 per cent, in Victoria it was 24.8 per cent and in South Australia it was 11.3 per cent, in the latest report.
The average out-of-pocket costs were $41.27 in Queensland, $41.19 in Victoria and $42.24 in NSW.
When aggregated, the report also found Queensland’s bulk billing rate had slumped 9.7 percentage points on its previous report, NSW had dipped 11.4 percentage points, Vic was down 9.7 percentage points and SA was down 13.6 percentage points.
Cleanbill also found Queensland’s out-of-pocket fees had increased 2.8 per cent from its previous report, NSW was up 3.1 per cent, Victoria was up 2.5 per cent and SA increased 7.2 per cent.
Cleanbill founder James Gillespie said the research had been conducted after the federal government introduced new bulk billing incentives for Australian general practice in November last year.
He said that despite the $3.5 billion injected from November 1, there has been an 11.1 percentage point drop in clinics bulk billing adults, who are not eligible for a concession.
“[That equates to] 514 clinics moving away from bulk billing everyone to private billing or only bulk billing certain groups,” he said.
“Making sure people are able to access affordable, accessible care is going to be more cost effective than go to public hospitals.
“[The data] shows there is a broad feeling amongst GPs that the economics no longer stack up for them to continue to bulk bill.”
RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins said the report provided further evidence of the need to do more to ensure affordable care was accessible to all Australians.
“This report shows we need to do more to address the rising costs for care in Australia – patient financial issues was also one of the top concerns GPs reported in our 2023 Health of the Nation,” she said.
“While the government’s tripling of bulk billing incentives has helped more GPs bulk bill specific groups, including children, pensioners, and healthcare card holders, more needs to be done to ensure care is affordable for the rest of the population.
“This situation is a direct result of the 10-year freeze on patient Medicare rebates. This ripped funding from general practice, so now even though more people access general practice than any other health service, it gets just 6.5 per cent of the total government spend on healthcare. Practices are also facing the same inflationary pressures as other businesses.”
Dr Higgins said it was “absolutely vital” that everyone could afford GP care to help people live healthier lives but also to reduce pressure on hospitals.
“It’s also our most cost-effective health service, with a 20-minute GP consult costing around $40, whereas a visit to hospital costs over $600, and much more if a patient is admitted,” she said.
Australian Medical Association vice president Dr Danielle McMullen agreed, saying she welcomed the federal government’s injection of funds at the last budget as a “good first step”.
“Australians need access to affordable care – we recognise the costs of running a practice are skyrocketing and the Medicare rebate hasn’t kept up with that, and more work needs to be done,” she said.
Health Minister Mark Butler said “after a decade of cuts and neglect by the former government it had never been harder to see a bulk billing GP”.
“The Albanese Government’s investment of $3.5 billion to triple the bulk billing incentive for under 16s, concession card holders and pensioners, applies to three in every five GP consultations,” he said.
“The increased incentives will be of particular benefit to people who live in regional, rural and remote communities as the value of the incentive is scaled and increases for patients who live in regional, rural and remote communities.”
His office questioned the Cleanbill report, saying it did not accurately represent bulk billing rates or out of pocket data. It pointed to latest bulk-billing statistics from the September Quarter of 2023-24 showing that 73.2 per cent of all Standard GP Consults were bulk billed. And MBS data observed out-of-pocket costs for Standard GP Consults had reduced by 0.7 per cent in 2023-24 compared to the previous year – from $39.29 to $39.00.
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Originally published as ‘GPs still underfunded’: New report reveals less than one in four Aussie GPs offer bulk billing to adult patients
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