Edit filter log

'{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=November 2010}} '''Bulk billing''' is a payment option under the [[Medicare (Australia)|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.<ref>[http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/medicare-bulk-billing "Medicare Bulk Billing"]</ref> The health service provider, usually a [[physician|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 (Australia)|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 (trade)|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]].<ref>[http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/subjects/medicare-services "Billing and claiming options"]</ref> 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. Many general practitioner services are bulk-billed, but less so in more affluent areas and in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia where there is a greater shortage of doctors and health care services. 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. Initially, there was no option for bulk billers to opt out of the co-payment. $20 billion gathered from the $5 reduction in the rebate are to be designated to funding a new [[Medical Research Future Fund]].<ref>Finance Minister: Press Release, August 2014, [http://www.financeminister.gov.au/media/2014/0822-gp-co-payments.html GP Co-payment and Medical Research Future Fund Essential Budget Reforms]</ref> The co-payment measure was initially recommended by the [[National Commission of Audit]] and adopted as a government measure in the 2014 federal budget, to commence from 1 July 2015. The co-payment has been described as a rationing measure to decrease the number of unnecessary medical consultations,<ref>[https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2014/200/7/copayments-general-practice-visits Medical Journal of Australia: Copayments general rractice visits]</ref> but was to apply on all consultations including those by critically ill patients, pensioners and others, and are cumulative with no threshold limits. The proposal has been widely criticised.<ref>[[The Age]], 19 June 2014: [http://www.theage.com.au/comment/medical-copayment-deserves-to-fail-in-the-senate-20140618-zsbb3.html Medical copayment deserves to fail in the senate]</ref> Prime Minister, Tony Abbott announced in December 2014, that the co-payment will be reduced to $5, with application to all patients, with practitioners having an option not to pass on the $5 to patients. Children, pensioners, veterans and aged care residents are to be exempted from the rebate reduction.<ref>Australian Financial Review, 9 December 2014: [http://www.afr.com/p/national/tony_abbott_dumps_gp_co_payment_uxdi2Jo9c3VE9hQuFTHfHK Tony Abbott dumps $7 GP co-payment for $5 optional fee]</ref><ref>Health direct: [http://www.healthdirect.gov.au/news/latest-amendments-to-proposed-medicare-co-payment Latest amendments to proposed Medicare co-payment]</ref> 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".<ref>Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2015: [http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-scraps-gp-copayment-20150303-13thxg.html Abbott government scraps GP co-payment]</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} == External Links == {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulk Billing}} [[Category:Medicare Australia]]'