Vulnerable patients asked to cough up as more GPs shun bulk billing

A growing number of GPs are charging disadvantaged people instead of bulk billing them because the Medicare rebate isn’t covering their costs.

“Up until recently, those practices that didn’t bulk bill everyone, they would as a routine policy bulk bill pensioners and health care card holders,” said Leanne Wells, chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum. “But now some are starting to say ‘Look, we can’t even afford that guarantee any more’.”

While GPs are not obliged to bulk bill health care card holders and patients from low socio-economic groups, or those who have a pension card, they generally have since Medicare’s inception in 1984. Melbourne GP Anita Munoz, who chairs the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Victorian faculty, said the rebate given to doctors had not increased in real terms for many years, and that many GPs could not afford to continue bulk billing without charging a gap fee.

ClayLucas Don't hold your breath with Airbanese

ClayLucas Someone has to pay. GPs run a business and have been providing a service/favour on behalf of federal govt for decades. Federal govt has saved an extraordinary amount by not increasing Medicare and is now forcing state govt to pick up the slack and expense in hospital EDs.

ClayLucas SAME POLICIES SAME LIES JUST WEARING DIFFERENT COLOURED TIES

ClayLucas healthcare isn’t free in Australia and we definitely don’t want to pay more tax for it. With a shrinking? /Stagnant population and most of us already paying over $400mth for private healthcare what do you expect. We just have to go with out and take our lives into our own hands

ClayLucas Well the prices of Mercedes Benz have gone up quite a bit! Poor GPs.

ClayLucas This is on the government, not our local GPs

ClayLucas It’s shameful where is AlboMP

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