Some 63% of Australians are now bulk-billed for all of their GP visits, up from 56% in each of the past two years, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, The Guardian reports.
The college's annual health of the nation report, based partly on a survey of 2,766 GPs, found the share of doctors bulk-billing every patient had risen from 12% to 26% in a year. It links the rise to federal incentives introduced last November, which give practices that bulk-bill all eligible Medicare patients a 12.5% top-up payment.
The figure is still below the 70% recorded in 2019. RACGP president Dr Michael Wright welcomed the findings but said success could not be judged on bulk-billing alone. Health economist Dr Luke Slawomirski cautioned that the survey covers only about 7% of GPs.
Source: The Guardian Australia
