Bulk billing incentives in general practice
The Australian Government’s investment to support bulk billing in general practice has 2 components:
- Eligibility for Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) bulk billing incentives (BBIs) has expanded to all Medicare-eligible patients. BBIs are additional MBS payments made when a doctor bulk bills an eligible patient for an eligible service. The value of MBS BBIs depends on the service provided and the location. Find out more about the Modified Monash Model location classification system and MBS BBIs at MBS Online.
- The incentives program, BBPIP.
About BBPIP
The Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program (BBPIP) supports general practices to bulk bill all Medicare-eligible patients for all eligible services.
Practices participating in BBPIP receive an additional quarterly 12.5% incentive payment on MBS benefits paid from eligible services. This is evenly split between the GP and the practice, recognising the importance of both:
- practices
- GPs.
Participating practices must bulk bill every eligible service for every Medicare-eligible patient to receive the payment. This incentive payment is in addition to Medicare benefits and MBS BBIs.
Why it is important
Expanded bulk billing will mean more Medicare-eligible patients can access general practice care. It will also reduce patients' out-of-pocket-costs.
Participating in BBPIP
To participate in BBPIP, a practice must:
- bulk bill all BBPIP MBS eligible services for all Medicare-eligible patients
- be MyMedicare registered:
- Find information on the department’s MyMedicare program.
- Find how to register in MyMedicare on the Services Australia Health Professional Education Resources website.
- Practices registering in MyMedicare for the first time to participate in BBPIP are exempt from MyMedicare accreditation requirements.
- Patients do not need to be registered in MyMedicare for the practice to participate in BBPIP.
- promote its participation by:
- registering as a fully bulk billing practice in healthdirect Australia’s National Health Services Directory (NHSD). Find information about how to register on NHSD
- displaying Medicare Bulk Billing Practice signage on-site – some practices, including those without a physical location, are not required to do this
- meeting the BBPIP healthdirect and signage requirements
- register for BBPIP via Services Australia
- meet the requirements set out in the BBPIP program guidelines.
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