St Kilda Medical Group (SKMG) has always been committed to providing you and your family with the best medical care possible. We are the oldest practice in St Kilda, having served the community for over 70 years. We have always been a mixed-billing practice. However, in recent years, an increasing number of patients have been bulk-billed.
Please read on for details of upcoming changes to our billing policy.
Why is SKMG Changing it’s Billing Policy?
The Medicare rebate (the money the government contributes to the cost of your healthcare) has barely changed for the last decade, while the costs of running a medical practice, particularly with COVID, have skyrocketed. This has resulted in a widening gap between what the government contributes and what the provision of health care actually costs.
This means for each bulk billed consultation, the doctor is accepting less than half of the amount charged for the same privately-billed consultation. This fee must cover the costs of administration and nursing wages, clinic maintenance, insurance, rent and many more costs associated with running a private business.
For example, currently our private fee for a standard consultation is $95. When a patient is bulk billed for the same consultation, the doctor is agreeing to accept the government rebate of $39.75 as the only payment. This is less than half the privately-billed amount.
For this reason, bulk billing at the current rate is unfortunately no longer a viable financial option if we want to keep providing quality services into the future.
This situation has forced many clinics to stop bulk billing large groups of their patients, or even make the difficult decision to close.
When Will These Changes Take Place?
These changes will take place from 30th November 2022.
What are the Changes to SKMG’s Billing Policy?
At SKMG we remain committed to providing high quality medical care to the most vulnerable, such as those with current Pensioner Concession Cards for a Disability Support Pensions (DSP) or Job Seeker (JS) entitlement. These groups will continue to be bulk-billed. Similarly, we feel it is important that new parents feel able to bring their young children to see us without being concerned about cost. We will therefore continue to bulk-bill children 5 years of age or younger.
To make it possible to bulk-bill these groups, we have completed an assessment of the changes we need to make, which are as follows:
FULL FEE PRIVATE BILLINGAll patients will be billed at our standard private billing rates unless specified in the following sections (see reduced fee private billing and bulk billing sections).
Private fees are as follows for standard and long appointments:
| Appointment type (both face-to-face and telehealth) | Cost | Out of pocket |
| Standard appointment / single issue (10-15 mins) | $95 | $55.25 |
| Long appointment / complex or multiple issues (20-30 mins) | $148 | $71.05 |
We will offer a reduced private fee to the following patients:
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- non-DSP and non-Job Seeker patients holding a current Pensioner Concession Card
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- patients holding a current Healthcare Concession Card
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- children aged 6-15 years
Reduced private fees are as follows for standard and long appointments:
| Appointment type (both face-to-face and telehealth) | Cost | Out of pocket |
| Standard appointment / single issue (10-15 mins) | $74 | $34.25 |
| Long appointment / complex or multiple issues (20-30 mins) | $118 | $41.05 |
The following patients will continue to be bulk billed:
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- patients holding a current Pensioner Concession Card for a DSP or Job Seeker entitlement
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- children 5 years and under
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- patients attending SWIFT clinic 5-minute telehealth appointments for routine prescription renewals and repeat referrals (NOT new) (excludes mental health treatment plans and reviews) – available to existing patients only.
Please note, our fee structure and policy are the same for both telehealth and face-to-face appointments.
More information on our fees can be viewed here.
NON-ATTENDANCE POLICYThere is increased demand for appointments at SKMG. Please inform our receptionists if you cannot attend a booked appointment. Please note that patients will be charged a $20 fee if an appointment is missed without notifying us.
EXCEPTIONSBulk billing of private fee-paying patients may occasionally be possible, at the discretion of an individual doctor, for that visit.
For more information, please visit, Why is my GP charging a fee now?
