Higher rebates for specialist attendances ‘off the table’ despite $141 average gap fee

Mark Butler says, instead of rebate rises, he is focused on 'providing patients with better information'.
Mark Butler. Twitter.
Mark Butler. Twitter.

The Minister for Health and Aged Care has shot down a suggestion he could raise rebates for non-GP specialists to stop out-of-pocket costs spiralling further out of control.

The average out-of-pocket cost for a non-bulk-billed specialist attendance was $141 in the first three months of 2025, government data show, up from $129 in the same quarter of 2023 and up from $96 in the same quarter of 2020.

Gap fees tend to spike early in the year, but the average gap for specialist attendances across the past 12 months was still $124.

At a press conference on Thursday to mark 1.5 million presentations to urgent care centres, a journalist pointed out that Mark Butler had said he wanted to tackle specialist out-of-pocket costs.