A recent survey has highlighted current barriers to patients for affordable care, with varying prices between suburbs.
The latest report from online GP directory Cleanbill has revealed widespread variation in Medicare co-payments across major metropolitan suburbs, but some doctors say that comparing costs just doesn’t cut it.
Cleanbill has released a series of pricing analysis reports that focus on GP clinics from Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Adelaide.
The new report, which is a more granular breakdown of its previous report, highlighted that the nationwide rate of universal bulk-billing for non-concession cardholders is currently just over 20%, with the average out-of-pocket cost for patients being $43.
“In every large population centre, the suburbs with the highest average out-of-pocket costs for a non-concession standard consultation are within a 35-minute drive of those with some of the lowest average costs,” Cleanbill founder James Gillespie told NewsGP.
“As the percentage of clinics that will bulk bill a non-concession adult has continued to fall over the past couple of years, these out-of-pocket costs become increasingly important for Australians seeking affordable, available care around them.”
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Sydney had the highest variation in out-of-pocket costs with patients paying $103.82 on average, rough $80 more than that paid by patients 35 minutes away in Paramatta.
In Victoria, there were $35 gaps between nearby suburbs and in Western Australia there was a $30 difference between suburbs 20 minutes from each other.
“The latest Cleanbill report highlights the ongoing challenges facing general practice in Australia and reaffirms what GPs and patients have been experiencing for years,” RACGP vice president Dr Ramya Raman told The Medical Republic.
“Sustained underinvestment in Medicare — particularly the impact of the prolonged rebate freeze — has placed significant strain on general practice and made it harder for patients to access the care they need.”
The RACGP has highlighted that this study could generate confusion as the study refers to universal bulk billing practices, skewing the results away from the Medicare reported statistics.
“We know that practices most commonly operate under a mixed billing model, with some patients being privately billed and others bulk billed,” RACGP president Dr Michael Wright said.
“Last week’s release of the Grattan Institute report data into non-GP specialist fees shows that GP fees have been much more stable and restrained than those for other medical specialists.
“The latest Medicare statistics show that more than 75% of GP services were bulk billed in the last quarter.
“Bulk-billing rates have fallen from their peak, but these show the majority of GP services are still delivered without additional consultation costs for patients.”
