In short:
Labor says nine out of 10 GP visits will be free from out-of-pocket expenses by 2030 under an $8.5 billion cornerstone Medicare election funding promise, to be announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday.
The money will fund 18 million extra bulk-billed visits a year, as the government moves to widen free GP access from children and pensioners to a near universal system.
What’s next?
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has accused Labor of reckless spending, will need to decide whether to campaign against Labor’s plan, which will cost at least $2.5 billion a year once fully rolled out.
The government has cited one ABS estimate that around 8.8 per cent of visits are delayed on such grounds. The number of people in their 20s not going to the doctor has tripled because of cost over the past three years.
But Labor’s plan will also depend heavily on whether doctors take up the proposed incentive, particularly in metropolitan areas where rents and staff costs are higher.
The cost to the taxpayer of the bulk-billing expansion when it begins in November if Labor is re-elected starts at $1.1 billion in 2025-26 rising to $2.4 billion in 2028-29. Over the first four years, the total will reach $8.5 billion.
I’m not super versed in Medicare billing, but what I do know is doctors can set their own rates, for which part is covered by medicare, and rates have been going up faster than rebates.
There has definitely been price gouging, because shopping around on GP visits is a pain, and often people just cop it.
It’s been years since you’ve been able to get bulk billing within like 7 km from Melbourne CBD.
Some of it is genuine cost of living increases, but there still doesn’t seem to be any mechanism to control prices other than the “free market”
The medical centre we had on the Gold Coast bulk billed, it also operated 7 days a week and we could walk there and often get a same day apoinment or next day at worse.
Didn’t really appreicate it until i moved to Tassie 2 yeaes ago and a 10min phone appointment costs me $140 and I have to book a fortnight in advance and they shut all sorts of hours fir the occasional visit.
Here’s a crazy idea, we could just employ health workers directly. Cut out the practice owners making a profit/charging rent to the doctors practicing out of their location.
Just not make the insane mistake the UK made by not paying health workers competitively. There’s a reason we have so many ex-NHS staff working in Australia, lol
We are super wealthy per capita by international standards, we could absolutely afford it. (If we bothered taxing the multinationals shipping our minerals overseas…)