Health Bodies Demand 40% Medicare Boost for Longer GP Consultations
The average patient spends just 20 minutes in their GP’s office, a timeframe that medical professionals argue is often insufficient to detect subtle signs of illness or address complex health needs effectively. This standard consultation duration barely scratches the surface for patients with comorbidities or the more than 13 million Australians living with chronic or complex health conditions. While longer consultations are crucial for comprehensive care, they come at a higher cost, which experts warn impacts early intervention efforts and places additional strain on the already overloaded healthcare system.
Unified Call for Increased Medicare Rebates
In a significant move, twenty peak Australian health bodies have united to advocate for a 40 per cent boost in Medicare rebates for longer GP consultations. Dr Michael Wright, president of the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP), emphasised the critical need for this change, stating, "When people can’t afford longer GP appointments, complications and other health issues develop — people get sicker and need expensive hospital care." This sentiment is echoed by patients like Sarah Willits, a 47-year-old Victorian mother-of-two who has managed kidney failure for over a decade. Willits explained that standard appointments leave no time to discuss broader health concerns, saying, "By the time I get through all my physical issues with my GP, time is up. I would love longer appointments to have the chance for a wellbeing check to get the help I need with related issues."
Dangerous Effects of Delayed Care and Diagnosis
Peak health organisations have highlighted that longer consultations are "critical" for conditions requiring timely diagnosis to ensure treatment effectiveness. Rohan Greenland, CEO of MS Australia, noted that early signs of multiple sclerosis are often invisible or subtle, making adequate consultation time essential for symptom recognition and early referral. Similarly, Clare Sullivan, CEO of Motor Neurone Disease Australia, pointed out that reaching an MND diagnosis is clinically challenging, and access to longer consultations for rapid, accurate diagnosis is crucial. Justine Cain, CEO of Diabetes Australia, added that for the two million Australians with diabetes, extended appointments provide vital time to consider referrals to specialists like diabetes educators or endocrinologists. Deidre Mackechnie, CEO of the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance, warned of the drastic knock-on effects of delayed care, including increased hospital and emergency presentations, and potential disease progression to disability, which may necessitate NDIS support.
Financial Implications and System Savings
The coalition of health bodies, which includes Kidney Health Australia, Parkinsons Australia, Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia, Dementia Australia, and Palliative Care Australia, asserts that longer GP consultations lead to better management and outcomes. Their analysis indicates that increasing Medicare rebates for long appointments could generate over $338.9 million in annual healthcare system savings and enable bulk-billing for more than 85 per cent of these consultations. Currently, shorter consults are easier to bulk-bill due to incentives that apply per service rather than per minute, disincentivising longer sessions for GPs despite their necessity for certain conditions.
How GP Consultations Are Billed and the Impact on Patients
GP consultations are categorised into levels A, B, C, and D based on the nature of concerns and required time. A standard level B consult, lasting six to 20 minutes, is privately billed at an average of $82, with a Medicare rebate of $43.90, leaving patients with an out-of-pocket cost of about $38. For level C consults up to 40 minutes and level D consults longer than that, the bulk-billing incentive does not increase for doctors, who receive the same funding support regardless of consultation length. This discrepancy means that, as RACGP explains, "The per-minute value of patient Medicare rebates decreases as patients spend more time with their specialist GP. That means, for many people, the sicker you are, the more you pay out of pocket." To mitigate this, increasing the Medicare rebate for longer consults is seen as the only viable solution to reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients who cannot be bulk-billed, particularly in remote areas where access is already limited.
