Fees

BERRY MEDICAL

DEAR PATIENTS

RE:  Fees

Unfortunately, we need to raise our fees. We understand our patients are facing an increased cost of living, so this is a difficult decision and has been considered carefully.

General Practice running costs remain above the CPI average of 6% and we note an increase in the minimum wage is close to that amount. The increased incentives for bulk billing announced with the last budget, do not really change the landscape. We have always emphasised our ” fee for service” model. This a true professional relationship, independent of third parties. To be clear, the government is the insurer, providing you “the patient” with a rebate. They pay, at best, half the true value of a standard consult. There has been little effort to maintain rebates at real values for nearly 20 years. Unfortunately this translates to out of pocket costs for our patients.

• Our practice costs have increased by over 10% in the last year.
• The Medicare rebate for a standard consultation was only increased by 65 cents (1.6%) at the same time.
• The six-year freeze on the Medicare rebate implemented by the previous government has seen $2 billion removed from general practice income with a total of $8.5 billion removed since 1993.
• General practice accounts for just under 8% of Federal Government health expenditure when primary and preventative health care is the most cost-effective aspect of health care.
• The Medicare rebate of $39.75 for a standard consultation is only 46% of what the rebate should be.

We are finding our patients, on average, are requiring longer consultations presenting with more complex issues. This means you’re more likely to need to book for a “long consult/level C”.

We have kept our LEVEL C fee unchanged (Long Aptmt – for a more complex single issue, or 2-3 issues)  and the gap fee for this consult is closer to a level B (standard appointment/single issue) So please, if you have complex or multiple issues, please book a long (level C) rather than a standard appointment. This permits us the time to do our job properly and manage wait times. The net cost to you is very similar.

In our endeavours to continue high quality care, a bulk billing service remains untenable.

However, there may be times when we can carry the cost and provide a bulk billed service.

Please see our new fees (from 1^st July 2023)