*Data includes the electorates of Ballarat, Bendigo, Casey, Corangamite, Flinders, Gippsland, Indi, Mallee, Nicholls, Wannon.

Nationally, the investment has created an additional 103,000 bulk billed visits to the GP every week, on average, or 5.4 million additional visits since November last year.

On 1 November 2023, the Government made the largest investment in bulk billing in Medicare history, targeted to families with children under 16, pensioners and concession card holders.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) called the investment a “game changer” and for the past 12 months, GPs said it gave them the confidence to bulk bill more often, after a decade of cuts and neglect to Medicare.

In a survey of thousands of doctors by the RACGP last month, more doctors now say they are bulk billing more patients, more often.

Last week the Government released Medicare billing data for the first year since the historic investment took effect, which confirms the freefall in bulk billing it inherited has been arrested and turned around.

Families with children under 16, pensioners and concession card holders are now bulk billed much more often: 90.0 per cent of GP visits with children under 16 were bulk billed in the past year.

These 11 million Australians see their GP most often: they make up 40 per cent of patients, yet account for 60 per cent of GP visits, on average.

The historic investment in bulk billing builds on other ways the Albanese Government is strengthening Medicare to make health care more affordable and available:

• Made the largest boost to Medicare rebates in decades, increasing rebates by more in two years than the former government did in nine years.
  
  
• Funding and opening 87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, so Australians can walk in and get bulk billed urgent care, seven days a week, open early to late, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department.
  
  
• Added more than 17,000 new doctors to the health system in two years, delivering the most new doctors in more than a decade.
  
  
• Boosted the number of doctors training to become GPs by almost 25%, with the Government fully funding the training of 4,800 new GPs between 2023 and 2025.
  
  
• Made medicines cheaper, saving Australians $1 billion by cutting the cost of medicines, lowering the Safety Net threshold and 60-day prescriptions.
  
  

Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:

“Medicare is for all Australians and Labor is the Party of Medicare, always.

“We know we have more work to do to restore bulk billing after a decade of cuts from Peter Dutton and the Liberals.”


Quotes attributable to Minister King:

“Every extra bulk billed visit to a GP means one less gap fee, taking pressure

off household budgets.

“This is helping make Medicare stronger after a decade of cuts and neglect from the former government.”


Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister Kearney:

“As a former nurse, I was a healthcare worker during the early days of Medicare. I’m proud that the Albanese Labor Government is delivering on our commitment to strengthen Medicare for all Australians, no matter where they live.”

"As a government, we’ve made the largest investment in bulk billing in Medicare history, supported nurses to work to their full scope of practice, added the most new doctors in a decade, made medicines cheaper and created Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.


Quotes attributable to Lisa Chesters MP:

“Labor introduced Medicare 40 years ago and we have defended and strengthened it ever since.

“People in Bendigo and regional Victoria are finding it easier to see a bulk billing doctor because of Labor’s efforts to strengthen Medicare.”


Quotes attributable to Libby Coker MP:

“Our community members on the Bellarine, Surf Coast, and across Golden Plains and the greater Geelong region have been some of the biggest winners from the Albanese Government’s investment in bulk billing.

“This is delivering significant cost of living relief for people in our community.”