Australians are paying more to see a doctor than they were a year ago, as Anthony Albanese plans to woo voters with a pre-election review of Medicare.
Despite the Labor government investing $3.5 billion to increase bulk billing rates, Australians aged 16 to 64 are paying more to see their GP since Labor came to power in 2022.
In that age group, bulk billing rates, when patients have appointments fully covered by Medicare, fell from 82 percent in the year to October 2022 to 69 percent in the year to October 2024. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare the data showed.
Labor’s main budget policy for 2023 targeted younger and older Australians and tripled the bonus paid to doctors when they bulk billed those age groups.
The policy has resulted in modest respite for those target groups.
Bulk billing rates for Australians under 15 and over 65 increased from 2023 to 2024, by two per cent and one per cent respectively.
But the trend for working Australians continues downwards, with a two per cent drop from 2023 to 2024.
And even rates for young Australians and seniors were lower in October 2024 than two years earlier, and rates have fallen across the board since 2022.
Australians are paying more to see a doctor than they were a year ago, as Anthony Albanese plans to woo voters with a pre-election review of Medicare (file image)
Despite the Labor government investing $3.5 billion to increase bulk billing rates, Australians aged 16 to 64 are paying more to see their GP since Labor came to power in 2022.
With doctors’ fees increasing every year, this means Australians of all age groups have to pay out of pocket.
Health Minister Mark Butler said on Thursday the government’s investment had already made a “significant difference”.
‘(But) there are cohorts who are still having a very bad time. “We know there is more to do on bulk billing and we are committed to doing more,” Butler said. The age.
‘We are very attentive to what happens to patients who are not covered by the bulk billing incentive, and what happens in areas of general practice where the incentive is not used.
“Although there is a very marginal decline in bulk billing (for adults) based on AIHW data last year, frankly, those rates were in free fall before we tripled the bulk billing incentive.”
Coalition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said that despite Labour’s investment, Medicare had been left weaker than in 2022.
“Australians can feel the truth of Labour’s record on Medicare every time they go to pay the bill at their GP reception,” he said.
The Labor Party is now signaling even bigger investments in bulk billing as it puts Medicare at the center of its election campaign. Albanese is expected to reveal Labour’s new health promises for bulk billing, the GP workforce and urgent care clinics ahead of the federal election, which could take place in March.