More Than 4,000 Australian GP Clinics Now Offer Free Consultations to All Patients

Dragon Media News Desk

More than 4,000 general practice clinics across Australia now provide free consultations to patients under Medicare, up from 2,300 a year ago, Australian Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler said on Sunday.

Half of all general practices nationwide now exclusively bulk bill, compared with 30 percent a year earlier. Under this system, doctors bill Medicare directly for covered services, so patients do not pay out of pocket for those consultations.

The expansion follows the government’s Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, which provides higher Medicare rebates to clinics where all doctors bulk bill all their patients.

According to the government, more than 97 percent of Australians now live within a 20-minute drive of a general practice that bulk bills all patients.

The proportion of fully bulk-billing practices has more than doubled over the past 12 months in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. The Northern Territory has the highest share among states and territories, at 80 percent, followed by New South Wales at 58 percent and Victoria at 55 percent. The Australian Capital Territory has the lowest share, at 21 percent.

Rural areas recorded the largest increase, with fully bulk-billing practices reaching 59 percent. Remote areas remain at 77 percent.

Butler said the expansion was helping Australians save hundreds of dollars a year in out-of-pocket medical expenses.