Health
Medicare Now Runs at Two Speeds: 94% Bulk-Billed in the Poorest Areas, 68% in the Richest
The national bulk-billing rate has recovered to 82%, and the government points to it as proof its incentive is working. That single number is now an average of two different systems. In the most disadvantaged areas GPs bulk-bill 94% of visits; in the wealthiest, 68% and falling. The gap has widened from 18 points to 26 in under four years. A targeted incentive producing a targeted result is what policy is meant to do — the finding here is the size of the split, and that a headline number reported as national is no longer descriptive of anywhere.
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