Poll results suggest the figures could be an over-estimation…

Last week Health Minister Mark Butler announced that bulk billing rates were two years ahead of schedule, with 3700 clinics already having made the shift to universal bulk billing.

But the figure is being questioned by many GPs.

Nearly half of around 1200 GPs who have responded to a Healthed poll so far think the numbers released by the government last week are inflated.

A further 19% of GPs thought that while the figure was technically accurate, it was misleading.

According to Minister Butler, health.gov.au/bulk-billing lists all the clinics that are registered as fully bulk billing.

However, many bulk billing services that rely on grants for their income, such as state-run services, Aboriginal Medical Services, and non-governmental organisations such as headspace, are included on the site.

“I work in a bulk billing practice, but this is a community-controlled Aboriginal health service, so I don’t rely on Medicare rebates for an income,” one GP in Healthed’s survey commented.

However, even if the government’s numbers don’t accurately reflect reality, Healthed’s survey data over the last year shows that the number of GPs working at a bulk billing clinic has nearly doubled.

Last May, 20% of around 2000 GPs who responded to a Healthed poll worked in a bulk billing clinic. By 11 November, 2025, 10 days after the government’s new incentives launched, that number had risen to 39%. In April 2026, 43% of GP survey respondents worked in a bulk billing practice.

However, it’s important to note that since more than one doctor could be working at the same practice, the overall number of bulk billing practices may be lower or higher than that. It’s also possible that half of practices may be bulk billing, but half of GPs are not – if a significant proportion of bulk billing practices are small.

Meanwhile the Cleanbill report released last Sunday showed that metropolitan areas had the smallest increase in proportion of practices that universally bulk bill.

“The largest increases in 100% bulk billing have occurred in regional and rural areas where government incentives are highest, yet where health department data show there are fewer GPs per person,” the RACGP summed up.

For those patients who do pay a gap, average out-of-pocket costs rose by 13.5%, and the gap was higher outside capital cities, with those in very remote communities paying the highest average out-of-pocket costs.

“This clearly demonstrates that intervening in the market doesn’t deliver fair pricing or access, adequate funding does,” RACGP president Dr Michael Wright said.

What your colleagues are saying

“I bulk bill exclusively — but my other 16 colleagues don’t – each doing their way…so I doubt 50% of practices are exclusively bulk billing. I do it so as not to financially pressure my elderly cohort on fixed incomes, and young working parents are even more financially strapped; this way none can need to skip appointments due to cost. Suits me after 47 yrs in GP, having done both.”

“I don’t know of any practices that have changed.”

“In my area of practice, a lot are moving to bulk billing practices due to private billing of their previous practices.”

“It’s all spin.”

“Technically accurate but misleading is the default mode of any politician.”

“We’re in a regional area with few universally bulk billing practices.”

“Wishful thinking? Political point scoring?”

“Gives impression that all services will be bulk billed in 50 % of practices. I think this is an overestimate.”