MORE BULK BILLING ON MEDICARE’S BIRTHDAY

Member for Ballarat Catherine King and former Member for Ballarat John Mildren today visited Ballarat’s Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Windemere Street to celebrate the 40^th Birthday of Medicare.

The clinic has seen more than 20,000 presentations since its establishment by the Victorian Government in October 2022 as the Priority Primary Care Centre. Operated by UFS Medical, the centre has become a trusted healthcare provider for the Ballarat community for when the situation is urgent, but not an emergency. 

It is now one of 58 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across the nation, providing excellent and bulk billed healthcare.    

The Australian Government has made record investments to strengthen Medicare, including the tripling of the GP bulk billing incentive for children, pensioners, and healthcare card holders in the May 2023 Budget.

Since these changes came into effect, people living in the electorate of Ballarat have seen a 4.4 percentage point increase in the bulk billing rate, from 78.7% in October to 83.1% in December.

An estimated 6,200 additional trips to the GP were bulk billed in November and December, saving locals an estimated $270,000 in gap fees.

The nationwide bulk billing rate has also risen, with an estimated 360,000 additional trips to the GP being bulk billed. This has saved Australians more than $15 million in GP gap fees in November and December.

Rural and regional Australians have benefited the most with an estimated additional 202,000 free visits to the GP in two months.

This landmark Budget initiative is a key part of the Government’s Strengthening Medicare reforms and is the largest bulk billing investment in Medicare’s 40-year history.

Quotes attributable to Member for Ballarat Catherine King:

“As a Labor Government, we stand on the shoulders of giants like Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam, who delivered Australia universal healthcare. Labor introduced Medicare back in 1984 and we will always strengthen and defend it.

“Our funding of free Medicare clinics, our tripling of the bulk billing incentive and our cheaper medicine policies are delivering significant cost of living relief to our community.”