Retired helicopter pilot and cattle station worker Allan Wembridge is no stranger to hard yakka, and the injuries that come with it.
A cattle station accident a few years ago left him with chronic foot pain; a separate helicopter incident injured his hands; and he has been dealing with bouts of chest pain since 2024.
But despite the ongoing health concerns, the 69-year-old from Curlwaa, regional New South Wales, hasn’t been able to see a doctor in over a year.
“I’d like to go to the GP and just tell him, ‘Righto it’s time that I had a bit of an overhaul and had somebody look at me,'” Mr Wembridge said.
“I would just like it to be cheap enough that you could wander in and get tended to.”
Mr Wembridge says $60 is too much as he is strapped for cash. (ABC News: Tamara Clark)
It costs Mr Wembridge approximately $60 out of pocket to see his doctor south of the Murray River in Merbein.
Between that price, fuel and increasing living costs, he says it is simply too expensive.
Jurisdictions with the highest average out-of-pocket cost were Tasmania ($54.26), the Australian Capital Territory ($51.84) and New South Wales ($44.05), the report showed.
Cleanbill’s report was informed by a survey of 6,925 Australian GP clinics.
Average out-of-pocket costs were based on the prices quoted for a standard GP consult during regular weekday hours for an adult without concessions, at clinics that were accepting new patients.
Bulk-billing rate drops: report
The report showed the percentage of clinics offering bulk-billing had also fallen by an average of 3.5 per cent across the country.
Cleanbill calculated the rate based on the number of clinics that accepted new patients and offered bulk-billing to adult patients without concessions.
Only 20.7 per cent of clinics nationwide still offer bulk-billing to all patients, according to the report , down from 24.2 per cent in 2024.
A new report from online directory of GPs Cleanbill has been released. (ABC News: Grace Burmas)
Bulk-billing means patients pay nothing out of pocket.
In November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 8.8 per cent of Australians nominated costs as their main reason for delaying or not seeing a GP when they needed to, up from 7 per cent in 2022-23.
‘I try to save up a few concerns’
For Perth-based American football player Jeremy Truong, medical care has become a balancing act.
His doctor stopped bulk-billing last year.
Now Mr Truong has to pay $62.15 out of pocket when he visits the GP.
“I was happy to go to walk-in clinics and wait up to an hour, an hour and a half just to be seen to know that there’s no money coming out of my account,” Mr Truong said.
Jeremy Truong is grateful his doctor doesn’t charge per health concern. (Supplied: Jeremy Truong)
Mr Truong often leaves sports injuries, such as broken fingers, rib damage or shoulder strains, untreated until he needs to refill his other medication prescriptions.
“I try to save up a few concerns, issues, ailments at the same time just so that I don’t have to go in so often and cut a little bit of the bill,” Mr Truong said.
“Maybe to my detriment, to my health. But I just try and save a couple of dollars.”
Mr Truong is often injured on the American football field. (Supplied: Jeremy Truong)
Speed over quality
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Michael Wright said “proper investment” in Medicare could increase bulk-billing, and reduce out-of-pocket costs, for people who weren’t being bulk-billed.
“Both of these things are crucial,” Dr Wright said.
“Today’s patient rebates don’t come close to the cost of care, so people are paying more out-of-pocket, and it’s harder for GPs to bulk-bill.
“On top of this, practices have been hit by inflation like everyone.”
Peter Breadon, director of the health program at the Grattan Institute, said the way GPs were funded directly related to the affordability crisis for patients.
Peter Breadon says the current system rewards speed over quality. (Supplied)
“The way we pay GPs is really out of step with what many other countries are doing. And it’s out of step with the health needs of Australians,” Mr Breadon said.
“They [the government] really have to change the way GPs are funded, giving them more flexible funding that is higher for looking after patients who have more health needs, more disadvantage, and are more complex to support and treat.”
He said the current system rewarded speed over quality, leaving GPs unable to meet patient needs, particularly in rural areas with “GP deserts”.
5 million extra bulk-billed GP visits
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler declined to provide a direct comment on the rising cost of GP visits but referred ABC to a recent press conference.
In the press conference, Mr Butler said the Albanese government’s decision to triple the bulk-billing incentive in 2023 had caused “bulk billing rates to start to climb again in every single state and territory across the federation”.
“Bulk-billing rates” in health department data refer to the number of bulk-billed services as a percentage of total services delivered.
This differs from Cleanbill’s bulk billing rates, which refer to the percentage of GP clinics offering bulk-billing to adults who do not have a concession.
Between November 2023 and November 2024, Department of Health figures show there were 5.4 million additional bulk-billed visits to GPs nationally.
Mr Butler said he wanted to “look at all options” to address gaps in affordability and access for non-concession patients.
Mark Butler says there were an extra 5 million bulk-billed patient consults in 2024. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
In the meantime, Mr Wembridge is managing his pain the only way he knows how.
“At night time I go to bed and my blankets sit on my foot and keep my foot nice and warm and curled up,” Mr Wembridge said.
“But come morning, I have to stand there for a few minutes for it to straighten itself out.
“See, I haven’t seen the doctor too much about it. So I don’t know what would relieve that type of thing.”
