RACGP: ‘It is time for GPs to abandon universal bulk-billing’
With bulk-billing rates nearing 90%, Dr Karen Price says attempts to persuade the government to lift rebates are bound to fail
The RACGP has called on GPs to privately bill “as many people as they can”, warning that record bulk-billing rates are causing serious harm to the specialty.
The exhortation made by president Dr Karen Price on Wednesday is an unprecedented step for the college and indicates the growing alarm about the continued adequacy of Federal Government rebates for bulk-billed care.
Dr Price was responding to a question at the college’s Annual General Meeting about whether more could be done to persuade the Federal Government to lift Medicare rebates.
She said: “The problem that we have is that we are bulk-billing 90% of services.”
