Daily London
The average Sydneysider is paying $50 to visit the GP despite a surge in practices offering bulk billing across the country.
The latest data from health care directory Cleanbill has revealed a stunning turnaround in the number of GP clinics bulk billing.
They have more than doubled to around 40 per cent across the country in the past year.
Of 2342 clinics surveyed, 52 percent now bulk bill, that’s up from just a third a year ago and one of the best results in the country.
So what’s driving this change?
From November 1 the government increased the amount GP clinics across the country received for becoming fully bulk billing and so we’ve seen it make more economic sense for a lot more GP clinics across the country to adopt that fully bulk billed model, James Gillespie, Cleanbill Chief Executive said.
But the news isn’t as good at clinics that don’t bulk bill.
The average out-of-pocket cost for visiting those GPs in New South Wales has jumped from $44 last year to more than $50 this year – up almost 15 per cent.
And it seems Sydneysiders are bearing the brunt.
“GP clinics in cities actually receive lower incentives than GP clinics in regional and rural areas which means that if you have a state like NSW that has a large regional population with a lot of GP clinics, those GP clinics are more likely to have switched to fully bulk billing because they’re receiving more incentive to do so.”
Overall NSW and the Northern Territory has over 50 percent of GP clinics which bulk bill, just up on the nationwide number of 40 per cent.
Tasmania has gone from having none last year to 37 now.
However the average cost of a consultation there which is not bulk billed is $100, a similar figure to the ACT.
The average out of pocket costs are also highest in Tasmania at almost $68 and lowest in Western Australia at just under $47.
