Doctors have warned that regional areas will soon be left with few bulk-billing practices unless Medicare rebates are raised for general practitioners.
An increasing number of GP clinics in Australia have moved away from a bulk-billing payment system in favour of privately charging patients.
Another medical practice in Kalgoorlie-Boulder announced this month it would no longer be bulk-billing all consults.
It has left the city of 30,000 people with one practice that exclusively bulk-billed.
Boulder general practitioner Mal Hodsdon said it was no longer feasible for most clinics to cover the costs of running a practice if they were relying solely on rebates from Medicare.
"Cost pressures are everywhere, as we all know … it's no different for medical practices, which at the end of the day are small businesses and have their own overheads," Dr Hodsdon said.
He said Medicare rebates had remained stagnant since their introduction.
"It's obviously one way that the federal government keeps a lid on the health budget."
The Midwest has also experienced a lack of bulk-billing clinics.
Midwest Division of General Practice deputy chair Richard Taylor said he did not think the region had any bulk-billing practices.
"We do see people feeling like they can't afford to see their general practitioner and they will in preference go to the emergency departments instead," he said.
Calls for a raise
Dr Taylor said the federal government was undervaluing general practice with its rebate.
"I definitely call on them to consider valuing general practice more and raising the Medicare rebate," he said.
He said Medicare currently paid $39.10 for a consult between six and 20 minutes, which could leave a practitioner with as little as $10 income from the appointment.
He said exclusively bulk-billing would require five-minute consults.
"That [$39.10] needs to pay for your room rental, your disposables, you've got to pay for your receptionist and your nursing salary," he said.
"Then the GP themselves need to cover their own superannuation and income tax, and everything else.
No simple solution
WA Australian Medical Association spokesperson April Armstrong said the issue with bulk-billing was a little more complicated.
"Medicare was never actually meant to be the full service fee, it was set up as 85 per cent of the service fee, [with] patients co-contributing," Dr Armstrong said.
In response to calls for increased government support, Dr Armstrong said Medicare rebates needed to be increased for regional patients who didn't have easy access to medical services.
However, she said it was very unlikely to actually happen, as it would "blow the health budget".
Dr Armstrong said she didn't believe healthcare would be made less accessible by practices moving away from an entirely bulk-billed payment model.
