Appointments and Fees

You may not be aware that when bulk billing a consultation the doctor is accepting a heavily discounted fee for their time and expertise. The reality is that Medicare rebates have not increased enough to fully cover the cost of providing you with the safe and high-quality service you deserve. Both Liberal and Labor Governments have consistently underfunded the Medicare Schedule of fees which was frozen for 10 years and since then has only had a small increase well below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and increasing average weekly costs of running the practice.

This is not a sustainable situation financially for the practice. The Medicare Rebate alone is no longer enough to retain doctors or to keep our practice viable for the future. For these reasons, it is not possible to “Bulk Bill” everyone, for every consult.

After careful consideration, we are changing our billing policy:
• Pensioners and health care card holders can no longer be routinely bulk billed.
• There will be a small increase to our private fees
• Concession card holders will be eligible for a reduced out of pocket payment.

This change will allow us to continue to bulk bill for the many other important health services we currently provide, such as Care Plans, Vaccinations and some follow-up appointments, which may be bulk-billed at the discretion of the GP.

We are committed to maintaining and improving the quality of healthcare services we provide and this change is necessary in order to protect and sustain your medical practice.

We cannot thank you enough for your ongoing support of Gum Medical – in the past and into the future – as we make this transition. These changes will come into effect from TUESDAY 1ST NOVEMBER 2022.

When will Bulk Billing still apply?
Access to healthcare is very important to us. Therefore, bulk billing will still apply to some services and patients.

Patients who will continue to be bulk billed are:
• Children under 16 years
• Defence Veterans
• Disability Support Pension Card Holders

Services that will continue to be bulk billed are:
• Chronic disease management plans/reviews
• Mental health treatment plans
• Home medicines reviews
• Vaccinations
• Health assessments (Healthy Heart Check, 45-49s, Over 75s, Disability Support)

Fee Schedule
Notes:
Doctors and allied health professionals consulting at Gum Medical set their own fees which may be different from this standard fee schedule.

Medicare does not give an increased rebate for longer Telephone Consultations. A larger out-of-pocket Gap Fee may apply.