Bulk billing: Difference between revisions
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Under Medicare, it is not permissible to charge the patient a co-payment with bulk billing (although this was previously permissible): a service provider who bulk bills for a service may not charge the patient further for that service. |
Under Medicare, it is not permissible to charge the patient a co-payment with bulk billing (although this was previously permissible): a service provider who bulk bills for a service may not charge the patient further for that service. |
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Service providers may choose whether or not to use bulk billing. |
Service providers may choose whether or not to use bulk billing. In January 2023, it was reported that only 42.7% of general practitioners bulk billed, while outside of Sydney and Melbourne less than a third bulk billed. In the [[Australian Capital Territory]] and [[Tasmania]], only 5% and 6.9% of GPs bulk billed respectively.<ref>{{cite news |author=Mikala Theocharous |
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|agency= |title=Bulk-billing GP crisis hits all-time high, affecting over 50 per cent of Australians |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/medicare-due-for-overhaul-bulk-biling-doctors-clinics-crisis-50-per-cent-australians/6cd8f534-5910-400b-8bce-c9e70d174abe |quote= |newspaper=[[Nine News]] |date=2023-01-28 |access-date=2023-02-02 }}</ref> The key purpose of bulk billing is to provide an economic constraint on medical fees and charges. |
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==2014 co-payment proposal== |
==2014 co-payment proposal== |
Revision as of 00:24, 2 February 2023
This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. (November 2010) |
Bulk billing is a payment option under the Medicare system of universal health insurance in Australia. It can cover a prescribed range of health services as listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule, at the discretion of the health service provider.[1] The health service provider - usually a doctor - is paid 85% of the scheduled fee for outpatient services; and 75% of the scheduled fee for inpatient services, by billing the government via the patient's Medicare card. The service provider receives a fixed proportion of the scheduled fee but avoids the costs and risks of billing and debt collection. It could be described as a form of factoring.
Bulk billing rebates may be collected and paid directly to the service provider, or the service provider may collect the equivalent fee from the patient; leaving the patient to claim the rebate online, over the telephone, by mail, or at a Medicare office. Increasingly, service providers offer electronic lodgement at the practice using EFTPOS.[2]
Under Medicare, it is not permissible to charge the patient a co-payment with bulk billing (although this was previously permissible): a service provider who bulk bills for a service may not charge the patient further for that service.
Service providers may choose whether or not to use bulk billing. In January 2023, it was reported that only 42.7% of general practitioners bulk billed, while outside of Sydney and Melbourne less than a third bulk billed. In the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania, only 5% and 6.9% of GPs bulk billed respectively.[3] The key purpose of bulk billing is to provide an economic constraint on medical fees and charges.
2014 co-payment proposal
In the 2014 Australian federal budget, the Abbott Government proposed to impose a $7 co-payment for all bulk billed GP and medical test visits. The proposal was to reduce the medicare rebate payable to service providers by $5 (which applies to all consultations, and not just bulk billed ones) with the additional $2 paid by patients also going to providers. The proposal was widely criticised.[4] In March 2015 the Health Minister Sussan Ley announced that "we are not pursuing it at all" with Prime Minister Abbott declaring the co-payment was "dead, buried and cremated".[5][6]
References
- ^ "Medicare Bulk Billing"
- ^ "Billing and claiming options"
- ^ Mikala Theocharous (2023-01-28). "Bulk-billing GP crisis hits all-time high, affecting over 50 per cent of Australians". Nine News. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ The Age, 19 June 2014: Medical copayment deserves to fail in the senate
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2015: Abbott government scraps GP co-payment
- ^ "Bulk Billing Doctors". Thursday, 23 May 2019