New research suggests that the ACT will only receive one additional bulk-billing GP from the Federal Government’s expansion of the scheme. Photo: Region.
ACT independent Senator David Pocock has jumped on newly released analysis that suggests the Federal Government’s expansion of the bulk-billing incentive will result in only one more bulk-billing GP in Canberra.
Healthcare directory Cleanbill, which aims to “increase healthcare accessibility”, released its research this week showing that the expansion of the incentive will add 740 bulk-billing practices nationally – not the 3200 the Federal Government has flagged.
But, according to the analysis, the ACT is forecast to go from having only four GP practices that bulk bill to five by November 2025.
Labor Senator Katy Gallagher said at the time the incentives were announced that they would “boost the number of fully bulk-billed GP practices to around 25 in Canberra”.
But Senator David Pocock said the claim doesn’t stack up and Cleanbill’s analysis strengthens the case for the Federal Government to recategorise the ACT as a regional area.
Known technically as an MMM2 area, the regional area categorisation would give Canberrans higher rebates.
“If Labor is serious about shifting the dial on bulk billing in the ACT, then we need solutions tailored to our market,” Senator Pocock said.
“The ACT has the lowest rate of bulk billing in the country and the highest out-of-pocket costs.
“How is it fair that electorates like Chifley or Blaxland in Western Sydney have a 98 per cent GP bulk billing rate while Bean, Canberra and Fenner range from just 48 to 55 per cent?
“Even the Northern Sydney area, encompassing the wealthiest electorates in the country, has a bulk billing rate almost 20 points higher than the ACT at 70.8 per cent.
“I am calling on the Albanese Government to listen to the evidence and do more to support bulk billing in the ACT.
“From support for longer consultation to revisiting our MMM classification so that Canberrans can access higher rebates.”
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has dismissed the research, describing the Cleanbill analysis as “fundamentally flawed” because it relied on the assumption that if a GP clinic didn’t bulk bill all services, then they must not bulk-bill any service for any patients.
“Our policy is modelled by the department and based on actual Medicare data,” he said on Monday (28 July).
“We know this investment will work because it has already worked for the patients the incentive already applies to – pensioners, concession cardholders, and families with kids.
“When they went to the GP last year, more than 9 out of 10 GP visits were bulk billed for them.”
The Minister has previously criticised Cleanbill’s approach to measuring bulk billing.
“This is a private company that essentially does a ring around to general practices and asks them, as I understand it at least, ‘do you bulk bill every single patient that comes into your practices?’,” the Minister said earlier this year.
“We do something different. What we are able to do as the government is we have access to every single Medicare billing.”
However, Cleanbill’s analysis of one of the government’s new incentives finds that it can only be claimed if a GP practice bulk-bills every person for every service.
“Cleanbill’s report today aligns with what I’m hearing from ACT GPs and practices, which is that the market conditions in the ACT are tough and that rebates, even when you include the incentives, just don’t match up to what it costs to deliver the service,” Senator Pocock said.
Yesterday, the government also introduced legislation to make medicines cheaper.
It will mean a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will cost Australians no more than $25 from 1 January next year.
Pensioners and concession cardholders will continue to benefit from the freeze on the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at its current level of $7.70 until 2030.
Mr Butler said the government was focused on delivering cheaper medicines.
“Cheaper medicines are good for the hip pocket and good for your health,” he said.
“For general patients, medicines haven’t been this cheap since 2004.”
Anthony Albanese added that it was a promise kept.
“We said we would make cheaper medicines even cheaper; that is exactly what we are doing,” the Prime Minister said.
“This is another example of cost-of-living relief that helps every Australian.
“The size of your bank balance shouldn’t determine the quality of your healthcare.”
