New Medicare Bulk-Billing Records, Australia

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 29 Aug 2007 - 2:00 PST

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Medicare statistics for the June quarter of 2007 showed non-referred GP attendance bulk-billing had increased to 78.2 per cent, up 0.8 percentage points higher than the March quarter and an increase for the 14th consecutive quarter.

The overall bulk-billing rate for GP and specialist services in the June quarter is 73.4 per cent. This is an all-time record. It is an increase of 2.3 percentage points from March 1996.

During the June quarter, new record bulk-billing rates for GP attendances were achieved for children, people aged over 65 years and for people living in rural and remote areas.

The GP bulk-billing rates for children under 16 years of age increased to a record 85.5 per cent. For people aged 65 years and over, the rate increased to a record 87.6 per cent. The rate in rural and remote areas increased to a record 73.6 per cent.

Bulk-billing rates in the June quarter 2007, compared with the December 2003 quarter (the last complete quarter before the Commonwealth Government's Strengthening Medicare initiatives were introduced), showed:

-- NSW up 8.1 percentage points to 83.8 per cent;
-- South Australia up 16.8 points to 77.4 per cent;
-- Queensland up 14.3 points to 76.0 per cent;
-- Victoria up 12.3 points to 75.9 per cent;
-- Western Australia up 10.2 points to 72.7 per cent;
-- Tasmania up 23.9 points to 72.3 per cent;
-- Northern Territory up 2.3 points to 62.5 per cent; and
-- ACT up 17.0 points to 51.9 per cent.

The GP attendance bulk-billing rate has increased 11.7 percentage points since the Government introduced the $4 billion Strengthening Medicare reforms in 2004. This is further evidence that the Government's targeted incentives have worked.

Strengthening Medicare also saw the introduction of the extended Medicare safety net, a measure which Labor has pledged to destroy.

All bulk-billing data is available at:

http://www.health.gov.au/medicarestats
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au