The number of Australians avoiding visits to the doctor due to cost has reached a ten-year high, according to new data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics patient experience survey shows the proportion of people who said they avoided seeing a GP at least once in a year because of cost is now at its highest level in the 11-year history of the survey.
The decline in bulk billing rates has been driven by a freeze on Medicare rebate indexation introduced by Labor in 2013 and maintained by the subsequent Coalition government. Indexation was only gradually restored from 2017, but health groups say the rebate remains inadequate, leading to higher out-of-pocket costs for patients. The rate of GP visits that are bulk billed has fallen since the pandemic, despite a brief peak during Covid when vaccine-related services were compulsorily bulk billed.
In response, Labor has pledged $8.5 billion to boost bulk billing rates, including tripling the bulk billing incentive for pensioners, concession card holders and children from 2023, and expanding this to all Medicare cardholders from November. The government will also pay an additional 12.5% loading on Medicare rebates to practices that bulk bill all patients. The Coalition has matched this spending commitment.
However, bulk billing rates vary significantly across the country. The Australian Capital Territory has the lowest rate, with electorates like Canberra, Bean and Fenner seeing rates as low as 48.6% in 2023-24. Other low-rate electorates include Franklin and Clark in Tasmania, Curtin in Western Australia, and Warringah and Newcastle in New South Wales.
The data also shows that more people are waiting longer for GP appointments. The rate of patients who waited longer than they felt acceptable is high in historical terms, though slightly down year-on-year. This may reflect increased competition for appointments at clinics that still bulk bill, as the number of clinics offering universal bulk billing has declined.
