The official bulk-billing rate for a standard level B consultation is now 80.1% — a drop of 2.5% over the past 12 months, representing some 1.8 million consults.

Released by the federal Department of Health and Aged Care on Tuesday, the statistic comes amid claims by Australia’s biggest GP corporates that bulk-billing rates are falling much faster within their own practices and could sink to just 30% by the end of the year.

It suggests the RACGP’s call to arms in November last year for GPs to move away from universal bulk-billing where possible may be having an effect — or alternatively, that the brute force economics of keeping practices afloat have made GPs’ minds up for them.

The Primary Care Business Council, a new lobby group set up this year, represents seven corporates contracting more than 4000 GPs. They include IPN, Sonic, Ochre Health, ForHealth, the new name for Healius, as well as Better Medical.