The figure of $34.95 for the 2018-19 financial year - for services which are not bulk-billed - is up on the average of $26.19 in 2012-13.

Figures released by the federal Department of Health after a Labor request during a Senate estimates hearing, showed that the average out-of-pocket fee for seeing a specialist in the Riverina was $81.92 in 2018-19, up from $56.40 in 2012-13.

Wagga GP Ayman Shenouda, who is the deputy president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and chairman of RACGP Rural, estimates that a freeze on the amount of the Medicare rebate, only recently lifted after six years, saved the government $1 billion "that should have been invested into patient care".

"At the end of the day GPs are trying to meet the demands of the patients with good quality patient care. I feel very frustrated for patients who cannot access care because they do not have money because out-of-pockets have become higher," Associate Professor Shenouda, from Glenrock Country Practice, said.

He agreed it was possible that being faced with the prospect of out of pocket expenses was prompting people to head to the emergency departments of public hospitals rather than their GP.

"The cost of seeing a patient in an emergency department can be as much as $400. The irony is that we are not saving any money by this happening. It just costs the taxpayer a lot of money," Associate Professor Shenouda said.

"What could be done for $400 in general practice is a lot.

"There is a big demand for good, robust primary care. Sometimes it's actually the cheapest part of our health system and it's the least spent on by the government for patient care. We need to rethink the way we fund patient access to general practice.

"There are a lot of studies that have proven with good quality primary care, hospital admissions would be reduced."

Labor senator Deborah O'Neill used the figures to attack the Coalition, saying the figures "are a damning indictment of the Coalition's record of cuts and neglect in health".

However, Member for Riverina and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said "the data Senator O'Neill refers to regarding the cost of GP services relates only to the cost of GP services which are not bulk-billed".

"The bulk-billing rate in the Riverina in 2018-19 was 85.6 per cent - up from 79.8 per cent when Labor was last in government (2012-13)," Mr McCormack said.

"The average cost for a GP service was $34.95, but only for the 14.4 per cent of services which were not bulk-billed in 2018-19. For the other 85.6 per cent of services, there was no cost to the patient."