Wagga patient pain to ease as general practitioner incentive triples

On Wednesday, the Wagga GP incentive was tripled to $31.95 for those who bulk bill children under 16, pensioners and healthcare card holders.

The incentive adds to the standard GP rebates for bulk billing consults and Glenrock Country Practice owner Ayman Shenouda said the change will benefit more than half of his patients.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"I appreciate at last the government has listened to the demands from those in general practice advocating for vulnerable people to have access to that service - especially the Royal Australian College of GPs, of which I am a past president," Dr Shenouda said.

The federal government announced the increase in its May budget, after a call for the change by the RACGP in its 2023-24 pre-budget submission.

Dr Shenouda said the incentive will help vulnerable members of the community who are "at risk of not being able to access primary health care".

"This incentive will encourage medical practices to bulk bill those people and give them quality time and care," he said.

The benefit is even higher for Riverina towns smaller than Wagga, with GPs like Finley's Alam Yoosuff expected to receive an incentive of $34.05 with the change this week.

"I think it will make a big difference Australia-wide," Dr Yoosuff said.

The bulk billing incentive increase is set to deliver an additional estimated $3.5 billion over five years to support affordable access to GP care.

Dr Yoosuff also believes the incentive increase will apply to the majority of his patients and will help to make private GP practices much more viable.

"It is a great move and it works on a stratified [system] where the incentive increases based on rurality," he said.

While Dr Yoosuff said the increase may not fully reimburse GPs for the cost of a regular consult, he expects it to have a much broader benefit on everyone who sees the doctor.

He said by making it easier for GPs to afford to bulk bill a large proportion of their patients, the incentive aims to make it easier for doctors to bulk bill all patients more.

The Veteran Access Payment has also been tripled as of Wednesday for all face-to-face consults longer than six minutes, all telephone and video consults from 6-20 minutes, and longer telehealth GP consults where a patient is registered through MyMedicare.

RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins welcomed the increases and said tripling the incentive for standard consultations is a "critical stopgap to slow the decline in bulk billing".

"It is targeted relief that will help GPs bulk bill more patients who need it - children, pensioners, and healthcare card holders.

"Bulk billing has declined significantly in recent years because Medicare rebates have been below inflation for years, and are nowhere near the cost of care.

"GPs have been subsidising the full cost of care every time they bulk bill their patients."

Dr Higgins said the increased Veteran Access Payment is "important support for our veterans".

"It will support GPs to deliver care for veterans who hold a Department of Veterans' Affairs Gold or White Card," she said.

"It also comes at a critical time, because there were reports earlier this year that practices in high-cost areas could no longer afford to bulk bill all veterans.

"Veterans can often have complex health needs, making access to high-quality and ongoing GP care essential."

Australian Medical Association president professor Steve Robson also welcomed the decision, saying it was evidence of the government's real commitment to providing more support for patients who need to see a GP.

"The AMA campaigned strongly for this extra funding, and we are pleased the federal government is taking a positive step towards investing in general practice to improve access to care," prof Robson said.

He said the AMA was "continuing to work with the government on developing new programs and initiatives that strengthen primary care and ensure GP-led care is affordable and accessible for all patients".

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: