Bulk-billing rate now at 68% for standard GP consults
The bulk-billing rate for item 23 has fallen from 76% in July-September 2022 to 67.9% in the corresponding three months of 2023. The figures are…
Tag: Politics
Family-run GP business could face nine-year backdated payroll tax bill
A GP practice group with 76 GPs says it faces the prospect of a nine-year backdated payroll tax bill that will possibly run to millions…
Bill Hayden: Prime Minister mourns ‘architect of Medicare’ after death aged 90
Former federal Labor leader and governor-general Bill Hayden is being remembered as a great Australian after his death aged 90. He led Labor in opposition…
GPs excluded as govt signs $7 million deal for nurse-led urgent care clinics
A Medicare urgent care centre contract worth $7.1 million has gone to five nurse-led walk-in clinics with no plans to recruit any GPs. The ACT…
Long-awaited inquiry into COVID-19 dubbed a ‘protection racket’
Epidemiologist Professor Catherine Bennett will jointly lead a 12-month federal inquiry into Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with a health economist and a…
Qld payroll tax fix worth short-term pain, says accountant
A new payroll tax ruling in Queensland will mean short-term costs for GP practices as they restructure but ultimately beats the alternative, a tax adviser…
GP payroll tax protections unlikely, says state AMA
Daniel Andrews’ Government seems unlikely to offer any payroll tax protections for GPs, leaving practices open to retrospective tax bills of hundreds of thousands of…
Prominent GP plans to add $15 ‘Premier’s Payroll Tax’ charge to patient bills
Payroll tax is driving Dr Mukesh Haikerwal to charge patients $15 extra on standard consultations, which he plans to itemise on invoices as the “Premier’s…
GP payroll tax audits on pause for a year in NSW, govt says
The NSW Government is halting payroll tax audits on GP practices for a year while it consults with doctors over its next steps. The announcement…
Govt fends off challenge to 60-day dispensing in Senate showdown
Twenty-four hours of political manoeuvring has ended with the Greens and key crossbenchers backing the Labor Government over its 60-day dispensing policy. Ahead of the policy’s…
