New fee transparency laws could include GPs on Medical Costs Finder
16 Feb 2026
The changes are included in the Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers Bill, introduced to Parliament last week. Although the reforms mainly target rising non-GP specialist fees and private health insurance costs, the wording of the Bill clearly brings general practice into scope.
Federal Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler said that while the primary focus is on specialist charging, GP billing information could also be made public in future updates to the site.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the Department may publish details about GPs and other medical practitioners and how they charge. It highlights that GPs are often the first point of contact before patients see a specialist, making their fees relevant to the overall patient journey.
If the legislation passes, updated data could appear on the website by late 2026 or early 2027. This may include information on GP bulk-billing levels.
College response
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners President Michael Wright said greater cost transparency is welcome, but noted that existing RACGP standards already require practices to clearly communicate their fees.
He questioned whether GP charges should be prioritised, pointing out that the national GP bulk-billing rate is currently above 80%.
“It doesn’t seem very useful to focus on GP fees for something like this – it wouldn’t seem like an area that needs to be prioritised,” he said.
What could change
At the moment, the Medical Costs Finder outlines average costs linked to specific item numbers but does not identify individual GP clinics. Locations are listed broadly as “out-of-hospital”.
The website was launched in 2019 to improve visibility around specialist consultation and procedure costs. Participation remains voluntary, and Government figures show limited engagement so far, with only 1–2% of specialists and 10% of private health insurers signed up as of December 2025.
Under the proposed reforms, the upgraded platform would use existing Medicare, hospital and insurer billing data. It could also publish details about specialists’ use of gap cover arrangements and individual out-of-pocket fees.
Fees for common GP telehealth services may be included, and doctors could choose to indicate whether they provide telehealth. The Government says this would support Australians in rural and regional communities.
The legislation states that the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing must explain how published figures are calculated. It also acknowledges that practitioners, hospitals and insurers may notice differences between the website’s data and their own records.
An internal review pathway would allow medical practitioners, hospitals and insurers to question or request corrections to published information. Dr Wright said further consultation with key stakeholders, including the college, would be important to ensure the data and its interpretation are appropriate.
The Bill also allows for additional data to be added later. For example, if a national dataset measuring quality indicators for medical practitioners were developed, it could be included alongside fee information.
The explanatory memorandum provides an example of a GP and patient using the Medical Costs Finder to compare fees and likely out-of-pocket costs for a local gastroenterologist before arranging a colonoscopy referral. This reflects earlier consultation proposals that GP referrals may one day include standardised information from the website.
The Federal Government has allocated $7 million in the 2025–26 Budget to upgrade the platform.
A separate section of the Bill would require private health insurers to obtain ministerial approval before launching new products. This measure aims to prevent “phoenixing”, where older policies are replaced with similar but more expensive alternatives.
https://www1.racgp.org.au/
Source: NewsGP