Welcome To Noosa Outlook Medical Centre

The Australian Government pays for Medicare through the Medicare Levy. Working Australians pay the levy as part of their income tax.

The Medicare rebate is YOUR payment from the Government to help YOU pay for your healthcare. It is not the ACTUAL cost of your healthcare.

The Federal Government has frozen or only increased your Medicare rebate slightly over the last 10 years. However, the cost of running our Practice has increased continuously.

We would ask that you contact your Federal Member of Parliament.

Quality care that you have come to expect takes time. We understand that you need time to discuss your health concerns, and your doctor needs time to listen to you and examine you and discuss the right treatment. 

Bulk billing does not support the time it takes to provide this level of care.

…no that is not the case. Yes, of course, GP’s spend a significant amount of time training, as do many professionals, and so it is only appropriate that they get compensated for their skill set, but for the business that the GP is working in to carry on, it needs to be able to run its overheads. 

You will all be aware of the increased cost of living. The rent alone has gone up significantly and in order to allow this small business to carry on operating, we need to charge more than your medical rebate.

When the doctor agrees to bulk bill you, it means the rebate that you get from the government, is given to the doctor. This amount is time dependent.

So, for example, if you have been seen in your medical consult between 6-20minutes, this equates to $41.40 at present.

Medicare is not set up to allow optimal management of chronic disease and complex multiple conditions.

We want to spend time with our patients, but the rebates do not allow for this.

Essentially Medicare is encouraging in and out medicine. One appointment, one problem.

Fast medicine is like fast food, it might seem good at the time, but long term it isn’t good for your health.

Every day we know this is not how people go to their GP. Often people bring a long list (“I don’t come to the doctors often”) and the expectation is that everything will be covered at that time. Trying to convince a patient to break their list into different appointments is often met with negativity.

When the doctor agrees to bulk bill you, it means the rebate that you get from the government, is given to the doctor. This amount is time dependent.

So, for example, if you have been seen in your medical consult between 6-20minutes, this equates to $39.10 at present.

Medicare is not set up to allow optimal management of chronic disease and complex multiple conditions.

We want to spend time with our patients, but the rebates do not allow for this.

Essentially Medicare is encouraging in and out medicine. One appointment, one problem.

Fast medicine is like fast food, it might seem good at the time, but long term it isn’t good for your health.

Every day we know this is not how people go to their GP. Often people bring a long list (“I don’t come to the doctors often”) and the expectation is that everything will be covered at that time. Trying to convince a patient to break their list into different appointments is often met with negativity.

…it doesn’t work like that…Approximately a third of this is given to the practice.

This proportion then has to cover expenses like rent, staff(nurses, receptionists) wages and training, income tax and superannuation, insurance, electricity, medical equipment and supplies, office supplies, mandatory accreditation, IT systems, cleaning…the list goes on. The costs of running a business.

In the GP’s share they pay tax, and out of the rest, they have to pay all their other expenses including insurance, indemnity, college fees, membership fees, subscriptions…

No – they are paid in terms of the patients they see. If GPs don’t turn up to work, through sickness, there is no money. If patients miss their appointment, then no money is coming into the practice. And like any self–employed person, they do not have sick leave or annual leave.Their work continues out of the consulting time. So when they see their last patient of the day, their work does not just end.

There is also a shortage of GPs in Australia and worryingly  junior doctors are not wanting to train to work in General Practice due to the poor renumeration. As a result, we need to look after the GPs that are working, else there will be burn out.

• DVA card holders will still be billed through Veteran Affairs.
• Children aged 16 or under will be bulk billed.
• People who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander will be bulk billed.
• Exceptions include when care planning and creating mental health care plans. 

Times change. Practising medicine in these times is very different. 

We want to be able to provide quality care and the rebate does not allow this.

• You can continue to attend our practice and acknowledge the private billing structure

Or

• You can find another GP, but unfortunately more and more Practices are having to make these difficult decisions.

We would like you to contact your Federal Member of Parliament. It is the Federal Government that dictates the Medicare rebates.

Llew O’Brien MP Wide Bay
PO Box 283 Maryborough 4650
319 Kent Street Maryborough 4650 
Phone:  1300 301 968 / 07 4121 2936 
Fax: 07 4122 3968  
Email: Llew.OBrien.MP@aph.gov.au

Ted O’Brien MP Fairfax 
PO Box 1978 Sunshine Plaza
17 Southern Drive
Maroochydore Qld 4558   
Phone: 07 5479 2800 
Email: ted.obrien.mp@aph.gov.au

Only the government have the power to pay you more for your healthcare. They need to keep up with the cost of running a practice and they haven’t.

Hard working GPs are not Medicare-funded puppets- some of us are small business owners just trying to keep our business and our patients alive, while the media try to make you believe that we’re the enemy for turning to private billing.

We are not the enemy. 

We will require a full payment (not just the out of pocket amount–also known as “the gap”) at the time of your consultation. We will accept cash and EFTPOS payments. We will process your Medicare claim on the day and Medicare will deposit your rebate into your nominated bank account.

We recommend you make sure you register your bank account details with Medicare to receive your rebate as soon as possible.