Doctors Warn Medicare Is On The Brink Of Collapse As More GPs Stop Bulk Billing

If the rising cost of living wasn’t already enough, GPs across the country are phasing out bulk-billing services after claiming the Medicare rebate model is no longer viable.

A recent survey from HealthEd — an education company for doctors — found that 22 percent of GPs have recently changed their billing, up from just 10 percent last year.

Additionally, 67 percent of those have moved from mixed billing to private billing, while 33 percent have switched from bulk billing to a mixed billing model.

Some clinics are still offering bulk billing services to pensioners and concession card holders, while others have scrapped the payment model altogether, in a dire move for anyone needing medical services.

But according to GPs, the decision has only come after years of self-subsidising as a result of an underfunded Medicare system. But with stagnant wages and rising operating costs, GPs claim they can no longer eat the cost of the gap, and are passing it on to patients.

The Australian Society of General Practice’s Dr Umair Masood has now warned that Medicare as we know it currently is on the brink of collapse, and is calling on the government to improve the system to protect the country’s most vulnerable people.

“The bulk billing model will collapse in the next one to two years,” Masood told Nine. “The Medicare rebate needs to be double what it is at the moment for that to be even close to functioning.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by Sydney GP Dr Brad McKay. “We’ve been asking for support for many, many decades and it’s really got to breaking point at the moment,” he told Today.

But while it’s easy to understand why doctors are pivoting away from bulk-billing, that doesn’t make the situation any easier for patients who are already struggling with the cost of living.

“Mine has, no warning call,” one patient told Junkee of her GP ending bulk-billing. “I have a chronic health condition and two kids in outpatient care who need updated referrals every six months.”

“Paying $50 each visit is just not affordable to us.”

The situation is particularly dire for those who live in outer suburbs, where there are fewer options and limited access to bulk-billing services — leaving some patients unable to access the service at all.

“I live in outer eastern Melbourne (just before the Yarra Valley) and the four medical clinics around me have all moved on from bulk-billing unless they hold concession cards,” one patient told Junkee.

“I lived in an area for 20 years and every GP bulk-billed, I recently moved further out in the eastern suburbs and cannot find a GP within 20km who bulk bills,” another added. “I have never had to pay for a GP in my life, what is going on?”

The news comes after Health Minister Mark Butler slammed the previous government for allegedly not being honest about the state of the system.

“The former government was not honest with Australians about the true state of bulk-billing in Australia by selectively quoting only this [88 percent] figure,” Butler said.

“Primary care is in its worst shape since Medicare began. Across the country we hear stories of Australians not being able to get in to see a bulk-billing doctor, or GPs changing from bulk-billing to mixed billing.”