More Free GP Visits in Regional South Australia With More Bulk Billing
MARK BUTLER MP
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE
SENATOR KAREN GROGAN
SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA
MORE FREE GP VISITS in regional South Australia WITH MORE BULK BILLING
More Australians in regional South Australia will get free visits to the GP if the Albanese Labor Government is re-elected, with an additional 450,600 bulk billed visits and a boost to the number of fully bulk billing GP practices to around 105 in the local area – five times the current 21 practices.
Across the state, there will be an additional 1.5 million bulk billed GP visits, saving locals hundreds of dollars a year, depending on where they live and how often they visit their GP.
A retiree couple in regional South Australia with typical GP service usage may save around $449 a year in out-of-pocket costs, if their practice goes fully bulk billing and their GP visits become free.
An older family, with two parents in their 50s and two young adult children in their late teens or early 20s, may save around $431 a year.
A younger family, with two parents in their 30s and two children under five years old, may save around $227 a year.
More patient case studies are available on the health.gov.au website.
From 1 November, Labor will expand bulk billing incentives to all Australians and create an additional new incentive payment for practices that bulk bill every patient, with an additional 12.5% loading payment on their Medicare rebates.
This will mean 9 out of 10 GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030, boosting the number of fully bulk billed practices to around 4,800 nationally – triple the current number.
GP practices in regional South Australia will get more support to bulk bill, with around 105 practices across the electorates of Barker, Grey, and Mayo in a better financial position if they adopt full bulk billing.
This means around 105 practices will gain more in additional Medicare payments than they lose in patient out-of-pockets if they go fully bulk billing.
According to modelling by the Department of Health and Aged Care, the 4,800 practices will receive an average of $344,000 in additional Medicare payments a year.
The additional Medicare payments a bulk billed practice may receive each year will depend on a range of factors, including the practice location and how many Medicare services it provides each year:
The $8.5 billion investment from the Albanese Labor Government is the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago, and it will deliver an additional 18 million bulk billed GP visits nationally.
Labor’s record investment restores the $8.3 billion the Australian Medical Association says was cut from Medicare through the funding freeze initiated by Peter Dutton a decade ago.