GP bulk-billing rate drops to 80% in last financial year
GPs bulk-billed patients 134 million times in 2022/23, down from 167 million in 2021/22.
The bulk-billing numbers are in for the past financial year, and they are the lowest in a decade.
The national bulk-billing rate for GP services fell from 88.3% in 2021/22 to 80.2% in 2022/23, according to federal Department of Health and Aged Care figures published on Monday.
This means 33 million fewer bulk-billed GP services in the past financial year compared with the one prior.
The proportion of patients who were bulk-billed for all their GP care dropped from 66% to 52%, while the proportion who paid a gap fee for every GP service rose from 4% to 11% in the same period.
