Bulk-billing rates of health services
Bulk-billing rates describe the proportion of total services provided that were bulk-billed, where the full cost of the service was billed directly to Medicare. For more information on how bulk-billing rates were derived see Technical notes.
A high proportion of services were bulk-billed for humanitarian entrants in 2021, 97% across all broad types of service. This was higher than other permanent migrants (89%) and the rest of the Australian population (81%).
In 2021, across the broad types of services used by the humanitarian entrant population:
- Almost all GP attendances provided to humanitarian entrants were bulk billed (98.9%). This was also the case for pathology services (99.6%) and optometry services (99.1%). This was higher than the rates of bulk-billing for these BTOS in the rest of the Australian population, see Figure 2.4 for more information.
- A markedly higher proportion of anaesthetics (63%), other allied health (92%), and specialist attendance (64%) services were bulk-billed compared with the rest of the Australian population (11%, 53% and 40% respectively).
The following data visualisation (Figure 2.4) provides a bar chart and data table, which can be accessed by using the tabs (top left-hand side).
Figure 2.4: Proportion of services that were bulk-billed by broad type of service and population group, 2021
The rates of bulk billing were highest in humanitarian entrants for all broad types of service.
Rates of bulk-billing for MBS services varies by location and this may influence the patterns observed for services that were bulk-billed for the humanitarian entrant population. Some local government areas (LGAs) with a higher percentage of provider fees paid by Medicare are also areas where there are large communities of humanitarian entrants. For data on MBS services by LGAs, see Medicare Benefits Scheme funded services: monthly data.
The higher proportion of services bulk-billed for the humanitarian entrant population could be due to a number of other factors such as refugee health services and health programs facilitating access to primary health care services such as GP and specialist health care for humanitarian entrants, or financial barriers to accessing non-bulk-billed services. Additional information about the needs of the humanitarian entrant population will support the identification of factors influencing the data presented.
Bulk-billing of GP attendances by age and sex
Bulk-billing of GP attendances across age groups were consistently high across humanitarian entrants with the proportion of services bulk-billed above 98% across all age groups for both males and females.
For other permanent migrants and the rest of the Australian population, the proportion of services bulk-billed decreased with age, before increasing among those aged over 60. This pattern was consistent for both males and females.
References
Person-Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), 2021, PLIDA Modular Product, ABS DataLab. Findings based on use of PLIDA data.