Medicare changes: Patient information

Recently, the Government began offering medical practices across Australia incentives aimed at encouraging bulk billing.

These incentives will increase support for many GPs and their patients – at practices able to take up this offer, the full cost of most GP consultations will be paid as a full Medicare rebate, so no gap fee for you.

However, it’s important to remember that your Medicare rebates remain too low to cover the cost of care in some areas, and as the Department of Health’s modelling shows, they won’t work for all practices. 

Your practice understands that patients want affordable healthcare and would have looked carefully at what was offered.

The reality is in many cases, the expanded incentive payments still don’t cover the cost of care for all patients, particularly for longer and more complex consultations. In these cases, the practice will continue to charge a fee for most consultations.

If your practice has decided to participate in the program, you will see prominent signs identifying it as a bulk billing clinic.

Of course, it is your health and your choice. Practices value their patients and will want to maintain a long-term relationship with you. We also know that health outcomes are better under the continuous, comprehensive care of a GP.

Every practice is different with its own costs of providing care.

It’s important to remember that each practice makes its own decision based on what’s sustainable for them, but all GPs remain committed to putting patient care first.

Yes. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is the peak representative organisation for general practice and continues to advocate for increased patient Medicare rebates for the better health and wellbeing of all Australians.