Avoiding out-of-pocket expenses at the doctor should be easier after GPs and NSW officials brokered a deal aimed at curbing crashing bulk-billing rates and ending a backroom spat. or signup to continue reading Doctors have been at pains to stress stalling Medicare rebates and a court decision on payroll tax would force more clinics to slug patients with a gap fee or close their doors. But NSW hopes granting a payroll tax waiver for clinics bulk billing the vast majority of patients will ease pressure on clinics, patients and emergency departments.
"What (doctors) have told us is without this, clinics would close and patients would be billed perhaps $20 per visit," Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said on Tuesday as the state budget was unveiled. It includes nearly $189 million for a scheme to provide payroll tax rebates and to waive doctors' historical liabilities to early September. Queensland and Victoria also implemented changes in their budgets in May but NSW claims its scheme will be the most comprehensive in the country.
Bulk-billing rates across NSW reached 88 per cent during the pandemic but have since plunged to 10-year lows. A recent survey cited by the state government showed nearly half of adults were cutting back on healthcare appointments due to affordability, while a third of parents were doing the same for their children. Clinics in Sydney bulk billing 80 per cent of patients and clinics elsewhere hitting a 70 per cent mark will be spared payroll tax for cont.
