The bulk-billing rate in Hunter New England and Central Coast has risen 6.5 per cent in a year, but doctors say "one quarter of good numbers does not undo a decade of neglect".
Medicare data, released yesterday, showed an 81 per cent bulk-billing rate in the Hunter district in the June quarter this year, compared to 76 per cent in the same quarter last year.
The last time this rate exceeded 80 per cent in the Hunter was June 2021-22.
The data shows the average out-of-pocket cost of seeing a GP in Hunter New England and Central Coast was $59, rising from $52 in June last year.
An Albanese government statement said the national bulk-billing rate for the June quarter rose 5 per cent to 84.1 per cent. The statement said this rate was 75.6 per cent before ALP policies were introduced to improve bulk-billing.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said "our government is delivering more bulk-billing to more Australians"
"It's good for patients' hip pockets and their health," Mr Butler said.
However, for many people in Newcastle and other parts of the Hunter, bulk-billing appointments remain rare.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) NSW president Fred Betros said general practice in the Hunter was "under real pressure".
"One quarter of good numbers does not undo a decade of neglect. The Medicare rebate was frozen for years and has never recovered," Dr Betros said.
"It has not kept pace with the cost of running a practice, or with what it actually costs to deliver good care.
"Rent, wages, insurance, indemnity and staffing have all risen well ahead of the rebate. GPs have absorbed that gap for years, and in many practices there is nothing left to absorb."
Medicare rebates for a standard GP consultation are now $45.05. The latest fees show standard GP consultations in Newcastle have reached as high as $117.
Dr Betros highlighted that "this is not a story about doctors charging more".
"Successive federal governments funded general practice as though it were optional. General practice is what stands between patients and our hospitals," he said.
"The most recent Bureau of Health Information data had the median time in the John Hunter emergency department (ED) at five hours and 24 minutes, a record high.
"A decade ago, it was two hours and 48 minutes. Every patient who cannot see a GP arrives at an ED later and sicker."
The data shows the Hunter New England and Central Coast has the lowest bulk-billing rate among NSW's 10 primary health networks.
It has the sixth lowest bulk-billing rate across the country's 31 primary health networks.
The bulk-billing data applies to GP services to patients, not visits. GPs say this artificially inflates the numbers.
Nonetheless, Mr Butler announced in the May federal budget that the government would spend $25.3 million over three years to establish six fully bulk-billing GP clinics across the Hunter and Central Coast.
The move follows his concerns about the Newcastle/Hunter area being a "bulk-billing desert".
The six planned clinics, which will be put to tender, are expected to receive about $1.4 million a year. This would fund about one doctor, nurse, receptionist and running costs.
Dr Betros said extra capacity in the Hunter was "not something we would argue against, but our question is where the doctors will come from".
"There is no reserve pool of GPs waiting to be hired, and those clinics are not due to open until the middle of next year.
"If the Commonwealth wants bulk-billing to hold, it needs to fund general practice properly and permanently, not through incentive payments a future government can withdraw."
