Almost 70 per cent of Warrnambool patients are forced to pay out-of-pocket costs for non-hospital Medicare services, a report has revealed.
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The report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare looked at health services that were delivered outside of hospitals and subsidised by Medicare, including GP, specialist, imaging and obstetric services.
While governments contributed $19 billion towards these services across the nation in 2016–17, $3 billion was paid for by patients.
The report shows that in 2016-2017, half of the nations patients paid something from their own pockets toward their services.
The remaining half had the full cost for all of their non-hospital Medicare services covered by the government.
In the Warrnambool Primary Health Network (PHN) area, 69.2 per cent of patients had out-of-pocket costs, with the median cost sitting at $114 per person.
The report revealed a variation for different services, with about 54 per cent of Warrnambool residents paying a contribution for GP services but more than 78 per cent with a gap when visiting a specialist.
In the Colac-Corangamite PHN area, 63 per cent of patients pay a median out-of-pocket cost of $107. More than 78 per cent of patients have an out-of-pocket cost for specialist consults while 47 per cent pay a contribution for for GP services.
Overall, patients living in metropolitan areas were less likely to have out-of-pocket costs than patients in regional areas.
The report was released the same day Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed Medicare data showing record high bulk-billing rates of 86.1 per cent for 2017-18, a 0.4 per cent increase on the previous year. But GPs and public health advocates called the data misleading, saying figures represented the number of services bulk-billed, not the number of patients treated by GPs.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare spokesman Michael Frost said a range of factors influenced out-of-pocket costs.
“These can include the types of services the patient requires, the availability of bulk billing and the cost of services in their area,” he said.
Earlier this year, only two clinics contacted by The Standard confirmed they bulk-bill all appointments for people with a Medicare card.
