Tamworth GPs reluctant to expand bulk billing following federal budget

The government announced the incentive paid to GPs to bulk bill consultations for families with children under 16, pensioners and Commonwealth concession card holders would be tripled in its budget on May 9.

Tamworth doctors said although the cost of providing consultations is still more than the offered amount, doctors could look at their bulk billing and update their policies.

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But, the freeze on the Medicare rebate which kept the bulk billing rate from increasing with inflation for years has resulted in distrust, Dr Rankmore said.

"We can only assume they won't increase this with inflation, and therefore in five, 10 years, you end up in a worse predicament, and have to switch back to private billing," he said.

"Which just sounds like a nightmare.

"I think there's still a lot of uncertainty about the future of funding, which makes people a bit nervous about making big changes and commitments about the future.

"After a decade of Medicare cuts, it's then a bit hard to suddenly put your full trust into the system. I think that's probably some of the reluctance."

In community clinics targeting the disadvantaged, there will be more bulk billing, he said, but it won't be as big a shift in practices that are already privately billing.

"We think it's great for areas that were already bulk billing, and that allows us to do that with a bit more confidence," he said.

More details need to come out before decisions can be made, Northwest Health GP Ian Kamerman said.

"But it's unlikely to have a huge affect on bulk billing patients that don't have concession cards, or children," he said.

GPs are anxious about payroll tax, which doctors have said could "destroy" general practice, and Dr Rankmore said it could "easily consume" the increase in bulk billing.

Tripling the bulk billing incentive was welcomed by the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP), it would help increase access to care for those Australians who need it most and arrest the decline in bulk billing, president Nicole Higgins said

The RACGP newsGP weekly poll from May 22 to 29 asks members to vote on whether they will bulk bill more patients as a result of this year's budget.

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