The federal AMA continues to urge the government to reconsider Medicare rebates to ensure they recognise longer GP consultations for patients with more complex medical needs.
Following the release this week of another Cleanbill bulk-billing report, AMA Vice President Associate Professor Julian Rait told ABC Radio News that bulk-billing clinics generally engage in shorter consults for less complex conditions.
The Cleanbill report that found the proportion of fully bulk-billing clinics has almost doubled to 40 per cent since the government’s incentives to improve access to GP care for non-concessional patients.
However, visits to the 60 per cent of GP clinics that do not fully bulk bill have become more expensive with the average out-of-pockets cost of a standard consultation rising to almost $50.
Associate Professor Rait said: “ The AMA has argued that the government really needs to support the rebates for these longer consults properly in order for people to be better supported when they have got more complex and more difficult or multiple conditions to deal with in a single visit.
“As people are getting older, they are getting multiple problems, and this is taking up a lot of time for GPs. And I don’t think that longer consults have been properly recognised in the rebate structure.”
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