Australian Doctor 2nd June 2023 02JUNE2023 issue | Page 4

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2 JUNE 2023 ausdoc . com . au

2023 Federal Budget

Budget billions for general practice : What GPs think

Paul Smith AusDoc editor

We ’ ve heard the pollies and commentators talk about the federal budget ’ s impact on bulk-billing and its future . But what do GPs think ? With the tripling of incentives for bulk-billing at a cost of some $ 3.5 billion , what will change ? And there are those other measures that grabbed fewer headlines : the promised revamp of chronic disease management items , a new minimum time threshold for a level B consult , and voluntary patient registration .

Some 406 GPs and GP registrars responded to our survey last month .

GIVEN the budget battering successive governments have inflicted on general practice , new money running to more than nine digits is big news .

The consensus view is that the incentive boost is welcome — some 17 % described it as “ very good ” news for GP care ( see first chart ).

“ My income will go up a lot ,” said one doctor .

But no , this view was far from universal .

Frostbitten by the freeze , many of you described it as “ too little , too late ”.

The other common view was bewilderment at why the increases were coming in November rather than now .

There is already a pained groan at dealing with expectant patients arriving in the coming weeks .

Opinions are one thing , of course , and action another .

Among those who are not currently bulk-billing child or concession card holder patients , 18 % say they will change their policy to mixed billing .

There is a similar shift among those who are bulk-billing fewer than 25 % of the patient cohort targeted by the federal health budget . Some 18 % say they will now bulk-bill more .

So , definite change is likely but not a revolution .

One obvious point to stress is that the incentive increases will have a

bigger financial benefit on rural and remote practices , where the incentives will reach $ 40 per bulk-billed consult .

As one GP said : “ These increases are useless for an inner-city doctor .”

Then come those GP practices in the economically hard-pressed areas , where the proportion of concession card holders is higher than in , say , Mosman in Sydney or Kew in Melbourne .

Our next question is regarding the shelf life of the policy .

Some 43 % believe the incentives will not be sufficient to ensure the vast majority of concessional patients are bulk-billed in five years ’ time .

According to Dr Susan Taylor , a GP in Adelaide : “ The Medicare rebates

‘ We have gradually introduced a gap payment . Now we will seem greedy if we don ’ t start bulk-billing pensioners and concession card holders .’

should have been increased , not just the bulk-billing incentives .

“ We have gradually managed to introduce a gap payment for all patients , apart from children .

“ Now we will seem greedy if we don ’ t start bulk-billing pensioners and concession card holders , but the

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