Health Minister Supports MPs Pressuring GPs to Bulk Bill
06 Apr 2026
Health Minister Supports MPs Pressuring GPs to Bulk Bill
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has backed local MPs who are writing to general practices, encouraging them to bulk bill all patients.
‘Of course local MPs are speaking to doctors in their communities about the benefits of bulk billing,’ Minister Butler told newsGP.
Recently, some GPs and medical clinics have received letters from Labor politicians asking them to switch to 100% bulk billing. For example, a Victorian practice was told in March that patients were unhappy it was not fully bulk billing. In Western Australia, a Labor senator circulated letters asking communities to support universal bulk billing and authorised the senator to write to practices on their behalf.
Minister Butler said bulk billing is increasing across Australia. ‘GP bulk billing has gone up in every state and territory. Australians can now visit more than 3,500 bulk-billing clinics, and that number keeps growing.’
But not all GPs agree. RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said politicians should visit local clinics instead of sending letters. ‘If politicians want to understand a practice’s billing rules, they should speak with us or local GPs,’ he said.
A recent newsGP poll showed 7% of practices had received letters urging them to bulk bill, while 71% of GPs said they would not join the new Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program starting November 2025.
RACGP Vice President Dr Ramya Raman called the letters ‘political theatre’. She said, ‘Medicare rebates no longer cover the cost of providing quality care. GPs are responding to a system that hasn’t kept up with modern medical practice, not ignoring patients.’
https://www1.racgp.org.au/
Source: newsGP