Changes by the federal government to incentivise bulk billing are proving successful, with more rural patients booking in an appointment to see their doctor.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) said it's seeing more general practitioners offer the option, while still being able to maintain a practice.
Incentives to bulk bill pensioners, young children and concession card holders were tripled from November 2023, with medicare payments for a standard bulk billed GP visit in rural and remote areas increasing by 50 per cent.
Recent data revealed the nationwide bulk billing rate had risen by 2.1pc in five months, from 75.6pc last October to 77.7pc in March this year.
The increase is equivalent to around 950,000 trips to the GP.
Tasmania saw the biggest improvement, with a 5pc rise to a 71.3pc bulk billing rate, followed by the Northern Territory, which saw a 4pc climb to 75.5pc.
The incentives are also scaled according to remoteness and rurality, with the biggest benefit seen in the most remote regions, ranked 6 and 7 under the Modified Monash Model.
RDAA president Dr RT Lewandowski said it was important the government continued to direct support to where it was needed most.
"We know that those are the areas where it's not as cost effective or rewarding to practice," Dr Lewandowski said.
"Rural practices are already the biggest bulk billing practices in Australia. It's just a reality if you live in the bush that your patients really require you to.
"At the same time it is very difficult financially to be able to do that for everybody."
The already high rate of bulk billing in rural Australia means it could be close to hitting a ceiling in the system's current state, but the recent changes have still improved the sustainability of care.
It's hoped the move will help turn around the downward spiral of more patients being unable to afford the out of pocket costs and practices struggling to keep the lights on given lower patient numbers.
Health minister Mark Butler indicated on the back of the data last week the government believed the decline in bulk billing had stabilised.
But Dr Lewandowski said there needed to be a wider "rethink" or "restructure" of the Medicare system, even if it was unlikely to arrive in the upcoming federal budget.
"It doesn't keep up with the costs of providing healthcare in our climate and I don't foresee it actually without some significant changes to do so in the future," Dr Lewandowski said.
"Particularly in rural areas we need to have a rethink about how we fund things like team-based care in rural medicine."
