Verbal consent to bulk-billing assignment of benefit extended for 12 months as govt backtracks
GPs had warned the government that the planned changes would harm vulnerable patients.
Verbal consent for bulk-billing will still be allowed, at least until July 2027, after health officials responded to GPs’ warnings of a looming paperwork nightmare.
GPs had sounded the alarm over changes scheduled for 1 July that meant they would have to obtain written consent — digitally or on paper — from a patient or their representative for each bulk-billed consultation so the Medicare rebate could go to the GP.
Every agreement would then have to be stored for two years.
Today, the AMA revealed that the government had agreed to a 12-month transition period.
