Relief and irritation after govt’s last-minute fix to bulk-billing assignment of benefit rules
The Federal Government’s last-minute backtrack on bulk-billing assignment of benefit rules has meant relief and frustration at GP practices.
The relief comes from avoiding what were, until Thursday, the planned new rules: that practices obtain written consent — digitally or on paper — from a patient or their representative for each bulk-billed consultation.
Now, the government says verbal consent will be fine for 12 months, and that the option of enduring consent — rather than fresh consent every consultation — will start on 1 July, rather than during 2027, for vulnerable patients, such as those in aged care homes.
The frustration for GP practice owner Dr Nicholas Cox is that he spent more than 20 hours last month preparing for the changes that were originally announced.
“The biggest challenge was uncertainty,” said Dr Cox, who owns Cavendish Clinic in Brisbane.
“The concern wasn’t simply about obtaining consent … it was how the changes would work in the real world across several hundred consultations a week.
“We were trying to determine whether our existing software systems would support the proposed requirements and what training staff would need.
“Ultimately, a large amount of time was spent trying to prepare for multiple possible scenarios.”
He said it reflected a trend of practice owners and managers being expected to constantly absorb new administrative demands without adequate support.
While the backtracking meant the government had listened, it also meant it had wasted his time.
“We invested considerable time preparing in good faith, only for the government to ultimately defer the changes at the last minute.”
GP business consultant Riwka Hagen said the rules had dominated practice managers’ social media discussions for a month, especially the question of whether workflows and software were ready for what had been planned.
“There are still a few question marks, but there is definitely a sense of relief now,” said Ms Hagen, who runs Medical Business Services.
“For practice managers, the difficulty was not being able to see in front of their eyes what the change was going to look like come 1 July.
“There was this sense that we knew change was coming, but couldn’t properly see it yet.
“Over the last few weeks, it took up most of the headspace.”
Read more: Verbal consent to bulk-billing assignment of benefit extended for 12 months as govt backtracks
