Now the public has useful data on bulk-billing we can really push politicians for better healthcare

 

Now the public has useful data on bulk-billing we can really push politicians for better healthcare

Last year Guardian Australia’s medical editor, Melissa Davey, approached the new federal government seeking the release of GP bulk-billing statistics by electorate. Her article today reports on the process and the data she eventually received.

Health policy researchers should applaud Davey’s initiative and persistence in seeking and obtaining this data, which has not been released previously in this form.

Since the data was released, the Department of Health has now committed to regularly releasing data on the number of people bulk billed, as well as the number of services bulk billed – an excellent development.(Unfortunately, the data will be broken down by the 31 primary healthcare networks, rather than 151 electorates – the PHNs are so large that significant variation across different areas will be lost.)

The department has also admitted that the drop in bulk billing identified is understated because it includes bulk-billed Covid vaccinations.