Bulk-billing GPs accused of Medicare breach by also charging patients   :(



Thu 5 Sep 2024
ABC News


In short:
Thousands of Australians are being asked to pay membership fees to general practitioner (GP) clinics to access bulk-billed medical care.

A GP clinic in regional Victoria, which is charging patients a $220 to $330 annual fee to access bulk-billing, is one of nearly 100 clinics around Australia that has introduced membership fees for its patients.

What's next?   :(
The federal health department says charging additional fees while bulk billing is not allowed and it is taking the allegations seriously.


Thousands of Australians are being asked to pay membership fees to general practitioner (GP) clinics to access bulk-billed medical care.

Almost 100 GP clinics have started charging the fees — according to medical data company Cleanbill — and experts say it's a breach of Medicare rules.

Grattan Institute health program director Peter Breadon said the practice amounted to "double dipping".

"Getting money from the government that is explicitly linked to not charging fees [while charging fees] I think is fairly dishonest and not allowed," he said.

"It really flies in the face of the idea of bulk-billing."   :(

A caucasian man with short blond hair and glasses smiles at the camera.
Peter Breadon says it can be more difficult to find bulk-billed medical care in regional areas.

According to the Australian Government's Services Australia website, bulk-billing means patients don’t have to pay for a medical service from a health professional.

"They bill us instead and they accept the Medicare benefit as full payment for the service," the website states.

Regional clinic charging patients to access bulk-billed care
One of the clinics charging "membership fees" is Mildura-based medical chain Kure Medical, which operates three out of the 14 clinics in the region.

For a $220 fee, patients in Mildura can access 12 months of bulk-billed medical care at Kure, or for $330 a family can access 12 months of bulk-billed care.

0.5x zoom image of Kure Medical Mildura sign on front of medical clinic, with
Kure Medical operates three clinics in Mildura.

The ABC has verified the Medicare claims history of two patients who each signed up for the $330 family package, showing the clinic bulk-billed Medicare in addition to charging membership fees.

For one patient, the clinic billed Medicare more than $400 for multiple consultations. For the second patient, the clinic billed Medicare $34.25.

On its practice information sheet, Kure Medical describes itself as a “mixed billing” practice with “annual private rates” which “cover patients for 12 months from date of payment”.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Nicole Higgins said practices charging an annual administration or registration fee to guarantee a patient bulk-billed services were breaching Medicare rules.

Photo of mid-haired brunette with glasses and blue jacket smiling at camera.
Nicole Higgins says doctors who bulk-bill cannot also charge their patients.

The Medicare Benefits Schedule states: "If a practitioner bulk-bills for a service the practitioner undertakes to accept the relevant Medicare benefit as full payment for the service."

"Additional charges for that service cannot be raised."

Kure Medical did not respond to the ABC's request for comment.

Bulk billing deserts
Mildura pensioner Sue Watson has complex health issues requiring a GP appointment approximately once every three weeks.

She described Kure Medical as a "rip-off".

A woman in an orange jumper sits in a lounge chair.
Sue Watson says she was forced to choose her $120 medical bill over groceries. (ABC-Mildura Swan Hill:)

"[Bulk-billing is] supposed to be free healthcare," she said.

Ms Watson said she and her partner couldn't afford the $330 up-front cost to access the bulk-billed service because they were on a pension and had limited savings.

"It totally negates the purpose of a bulk-billing clinic," she said.

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Mr Breadon said the situation in Mildura, where there were few bulk-billed services available, was common in regional areas across Australia.

"In these places with fewer GPs, you're much less likely to get bulk-billed care. And these are often the places where people are also more likely to be disadvantaged and more likely to be sicker," he said.

"So it's a really perverse outcome that a lot of the communities with more illness and more disadvantage often have less bulk-billing and less GP services to go around."

Mr Breadon said clinics found to be "double dipping" should be required to repay any government rebates they had received and should be considered ineligible to receive further incentives.

In November last year, the federal government tripled the bulk-billing incentive payment it paid to doctors for patients and consultation

health is pretty stuffed in australia

hospitals and GP clinics are over run with people between 60 and 90 who have terrible health and cost a fortune to keep alive

in fact, the cost of medicare for many many elderly australians who chose to become fat diabetics is way way more then then cost of their pension

and they clog up the system to the point that young individuals cannot get the care they deserve

go into any hospital ward or general practice and you will see what i mean

fatties and sloppy individuals who make terrible lifestyle choices, smoke , do drugs, eat crap, and then just dump themselves on the system and demand the gold standard in treatment

and because they have so many health issues, gp's cant fix them and move them on to casualty departments which are ramped , over run and unable to cope

this is about to get much much worse as the population age




you can "want the doctor that does the bulk billing"all you like but the chances you will get gold standard , timely care for free is close to zero now and getting worse


better sign up for some "personal resonsibility"

A woman in an orange jumper sits in a lounge chair.
Sue Watson says she was forced to choose her $120 medical bill over groceries. (ABC-Mildura Swan Hill:)

"[Bulk-billing is] supposed to be free healthcare," she said.   :(