The latest figures suggest it’s easier now to find a bulk-billing GP. But poorer patients can still miss out, for one important reason.
Articles on bulk billing
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Whether your GP decides to bulk bill all your visits will depend on on these 6 things.
The health minister also says fewer kids are now vaping because of the government’s ban, which ‘exploded’ as a health problem during the COVID years.
The evidence suggests there’s benefit to getting those on higher incomes to contribute a small amount to the cost of seeing a GP.
Fewer than half of Australians are always bulk billed when they see a GP. Labor’s Medicare plan, which the Coalition has promised to match, could turn this around.
The Albanese government on Sunday will pledge $8.5 billion for Medicare, declaring this would enable all Australians to have access to bulk billing by 2030.
Health care is universal in Australia, but this doesn’t mean seeing a doctor is always free.
The aim is to make health care affordable and sustainable. Our new research shows how.
The health care world has changed a lot in 40 years, but Medicare hasn’t. Here are three areas for radical forms to the system that will achieve its aims of universal health care for all Australians.
In Australia’s bulk-billing ‘deserts’, it’s incredibly difficult to find a doctor who will bulk bill. The government should step in to support or set up clinics so locals have access to health care.
‘One-stop-shops’ that offer health services, advice and information can be great for self-care. But what about when big corporate players enter the game?
Medicare needs an overhaul to improve patients’ access to quality care. And we have a unique opportunity to shake up how health care is provided.
‘See your GP’ is standard advice. But what if you don’t have one? Or yours is shutting up shop? Here’s how to find a new GP who suits you.
Medicare rebated psychology sessions are going back down to ten, following their pandemic boost to 20. But we know ten isn’t enough for most mental health disorders.
GPs say they can’t survive on bulk-billing. But abandoning it altogether might leave vulnerable patients out in the cold.
Not everyone who wants a telehealth consultation with their doctor over the next six months will be eligible for one.
Australia is the only country in the OECD that allows specialists complete freedom to set their own fees. This puts patients at risk – but the government can help protect them.
Health announcements in the federal budget include a slow lifting of the Medicare rebate freeze, money for new medicines, and an increase in the Medicare levy to fund the NDIS.
Extra funding to GPs from lifting the Medicare Rebate freeze should be used to buy better data, so that future reform can be based on sound evidence.
High specialist fees in this country, and what they mean for Australians’ access to health care, have been of concern for some time.
Top contributors
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne
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David King is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer in General Practice, The University of Queensland
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Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
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Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Reader in Health Economics, Centre for Health Economics, University of York
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Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW
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Associate, Grattan Institute
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Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist, Deakin University
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Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University
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Senior Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
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Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, University of Sydney
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Senior lecturer, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University