Health directory shows universal bulk billing has almost disappeared in Tasmania.   
Mercury
November 25, 2016

UNIVERSAL bulk billing has almost been wiped out of existence in Tasmanian general practices and the situation is likely to worsen, says the head of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Online appointment bookings and directory service HealthEngine lists more than 70,000 practices and currently has just 15 Tasmanian general practices listed as providing bulk billing to all patients.

A HealthEngine spokeswoman said the information was provided directly by practices and “it is their responsibility to contact us and have their profile updated should their pricing model change”.

“According to our directory, there are 15 practices that offer bulk billing in Tasmania,” she said.

RACGP president and Tasmanian GP Bastian Seidel said billing patterns had changed because of the Federal Government’s continued freeze on the Medicare rebate.

“I would be surprised if there was actually any universally bulk billing practice in Hobart or Launceston now,” Dr Seidel said.

“The vast majority would certainly bulk bill pensioners and concession card holders, but we are now seeing GP practices charging those patients as well because the rebate doesn’t represent the true cost of a medical consultation.”

Bulk billing rates in Tasmania dropped in the September quarter for the second quarter in a row.

Tasmania already had the second-lowest rates before the latest Department of Health figures, which showed a fall from 76.4 per cent in the June quarter to 74 per cent in the latest quarter. The bulk billing rate reflects the number of services provided, not the percentage of patients bulk billed.

Dr Seidel said he believed the next quarter’s results would show even lower rates.

Last month, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures showed health spending rose 2.4 per cent to $66.2 billion in 2014-15, compared with 2.3 per cent inflation.

The Federal Government’s final budget outcome also revealed an underspend of $177 million on medical services and benefits in 2015-16.

Dr Seidel said lifting the freeze for GP items would cost about $150 million a year.

“So the money is certainly there and GPs can’t deliver services cheaper, it just doesn’t work that way,” he said.

The Department of Health has said doctors set their own bulk billing fees and no government had consistently overseen higher bulk billing rates than the present government.

So what makes Tasmania different crookie? The article doesn't spell this out.
The practice I go to has always bulk billed. I think a lot of NSW would be the same.
Has it something to do with Tasmania's smaller population & therefore smaller turnover?

I know that Primary Health Care is looking at starting a private patient system parallel to the bulk billing practice. They run hundreds of general practices on the east coast.

Rebate freeze sees bulk-billed GP visits fall fastest in Tasmania

ABC News
Updated 17 Nov 2016.


Bulk-billing rates in Tasmania have fallen faster than in any other part of the country, and will continue to drop until the Medicare rebate freeze is lifted, a GP has warned.

Across the country, the number of GP visits being bulk-billed has declined as fewer doctors make the free consultations available and patients avoid medical care due to out-of-pocket expenses.   

New figures showed that since the July Federal election, which allowed the Coalition to continue the GP rebate freeze until 2020, the fall in Tasmania's bulk-billing rate was the biggest of any state or territory.

The Commonwealth Department of Health revealed in the September quarter the GP bulk-billing rate in Tasmania fell to 74 per cent from 76.4 per cent in the previous three months.

That is almost five times the national drop of 0.5 per cent (from 84.6 to 84.1 per cent).

Claremont GP Graeme Alexander said there were several reasons why Tasmanians were feeling the sting of the freeze.

    "The Tasmanian rate is obviously dropping faster than anywhere else because we have the highest level of disease, and the oldest and poorest population in the country," he said.

"So Tasmania is going to feel any pinch in health care more than any other state.   

"The complete disinterest from all sections of government in funding adequate health care is going to see a continued fall in the bulk-billing rate."
Taxpayers foot the bill

Dr Alexander said patients often avoided seeing a GP because of the cost and general practices struggled to stay viable.

"This problem is just going to get dramatically worse and very quickly," he said.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners President Bastian Seidel said the drop in bulk-billing was concerning.

    "The more out of pocket you are the less likely you are going to see your GP," Dr Seidel said.

"You are going to end up in a public emergency department or you will be calling an ambulance out.

"That is even worse because we know an ambulance call-out costs the taxpayer at least $800 and a presentation to a public hospital emergency department costs the taxpayer at least $200."

But Dr Seidel was not surprised by the drop in the bulk-billing rate.

"The Royal College of General Practitioners has really warned about this development over the last year," he said.

"And, unfortunately, now we are seeing the implications.