Fees & Billing Policy
Cardiff General Practice is not a government funded health service – this is a privately owned and operated medical practice.
We value our Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, and Admin staff and their time & commitment to our patients– and we hope that you do to.
Practice Fees update:
From the 9th October 2023 telehealth visits will no longer be bulk-billed.
If you have a pension or healthcare card, or children aged under 16 years you will still be bulk-billed if you make a face-to-face appointment, however if you wish to book a telehealth visit you will be expected to pay a fee.
Just as with face to face appointments – payment is expected at the time of consultation. We have a reduced fee for anyone with a valid pension or healthcare card or children aged under 16 years.
If the fee is not paid within 7 days you will not be able to make any further appointments and if you have future pre-booked appointments they may be cancelled. Accounts that remain unpaid after 7 days will attract a $10 account keeping fee.
Standard fee for Telehealth $85.00 – Medicare rebate $41.20 = Total out-of-pocket $43.80
Discount fee for Telehealth (Pensioners, Healthcare card, children aged under 16 years) $50.00* – Medicare rebate $41.20 = Total out-of-pocket $8.80
(*Please note there will be a fee increase after the 1st of November in line with the increase of certain MBS item numbers. This will result in a greater out-of-pocket expense for anyone on a pension or health care card or children aged under 16 years so please make a face-to-face appointment!)
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From the 4th April 2022 we will be increasing our consultation fees and ceasing routine bulk-billing.
Our fees (for a standard consultation or longer) are LESS THAN what the AMA (Australian Medical Association) recommends we charge for the services we provide.
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If you are aged between 16 – 64 years of age and do not have a Commonwealth Concession Card you can expect to pay a fee for consultations with your GP (including telehealth).
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Children aged under 16 years of age and Pensioners aged 65 or over will continue to be bulk billed- AT THIS STAGE.
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We offer a discount fee for patients with no Medicare card, students and self-funded retirees.
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All New patients from 4th April onwards between the ages of 16-64 years can expect to pay a fee for consultations with your GP (including telehealth)
There may still be times when you will be bulk-billed for certain consultations, but in general you should expect to pay a fee for any consultation with your doctor and payment is expected at the time of consultation.
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We are not able to process ‘gap’ payments. It is illegal to charge you the gap and then bulk-bill Medicare for your rebate. You need to pay in full and we can process your Medicare rebate online. Your Medicare rebate will be deposited back into the account you have nominated with Medicare, usually the same day. To check your details with Medicare are up to date – download the Medicare Express app.
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“I’ve never had to pay before!”; “They always bulk-bill me!”. We appreciate patients that have been coming to this practice for over 10, 20, 30 years but this is not a fair and valid reason for us to continue routine bulk-billing – the Medicare rebates have not been increased in line with the rising costs of running a practice.
The Medicare program is a Government subsidy for patients to cover their cost of healthcare.
This has always been the case - it is not designed to fully fund "free" healthcare, it's a subsidy the Government has given YOU - not us. It is NOT the amount the Government thinks the dcotor should be paid.
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This is not a decision that has been made lightly – if we could afford to continue bulk-billing as we always have we absolutely would, this isn’t about turning a greater profit – it’s about being able to keep the doors open. The fee charged by a medical practitioner covers not only their own personal income, but also his or her practice costs – the wages for practice staff (nurses, receptionists, administrators), and other costs for running a medical practice such as equipment, medical supplies, cleaning, rent, electricity, computers and clinical software, continuing professional development, accreditation and insurance. All of these costs increase annually, but the amount we receive for providing a service to pay for these costs has not. The Government has forced our hand by failing to increase Medicare rebates in line with general inflation.
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If this policy change does not agree with you, please do not complain to our reception staff – your concerns regarding GP practices ceasing to bulk-bill should be directed to the Australian Government.
Questions and Answers
What are the fees? How much do I have to pay?
The standard fee for a standard appointment is $85. A long consultation is $115.00.
There are additional fees for longer consultations and other additional services such as minor procedures, Mirena & Implanon, Iron Infusions, Skin Excisions, pregnancy tests, ECG’s etc. If your doctor is planning a procedure with you they will discuss the costs and provide you with an estimate.
Please note there are different fees and rebates for after 1.00pm on Saturdays and all day Sundays and Public Holidays.
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NEW PATIENTS: All new patient appointments are booked as a long consultation and attract a $115.00 fee - no discounts. Some doctors now require a non-refundable booking deposit of $20 which will be deducted from the initial consultation fee if you keep your appointment. You will get a rebate of $79.70 from Medicare.
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ACCOUNT KEEPING FEE: Payment is expected at the time of consultation. If you are unable to pay on the day your invoice will attract a $10 account keeping fee. No further appointments will be offered until the account is paid. If you have appointments booked in advance they may be cancelled if the account remains unpaid greater than 7 business days.
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Transfer of records:
Under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002, fees can be charged for providing access to a medical record such as administration, photocopying and printing.
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It is practice policy to provide a Health Summary and up to 20 pages of recent/clinically relevant information at no charge as soon as possible to the requesting doctor. (which has already been done before your invoice was even posted.)
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Copies of complete medical records incur a $40.00 fee. Our fee is simply to cover the cost of USB disk, registered postage and contributes a very small amount to the administrative time required to process these requests. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) recommends we charge $62.00 for electronic records or for hard copies - $39.30 up to 33 pages and $1.40 per page for each additional page so we consider our fee to be very reasonable.
How much do I get back from Medicare? What’s the out-of-pocket expense?
The rebate from Medicare for a standard consultation is $41.20. This means your out-of-pocket expense is $43.80.
We cannot charge a ‘Gap’, Medicare does not allow us to bulk-bill part of the visit and charge the rest. You must pay the full amount and claim your rebate back from Medicare.
How do I claim my rebate back from Medicare?
There are several ways to claim your rebate back from Medicare.
If you have your bank account details registered with Medicare we can process an ‘online’ claim for you.
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You can download the Medicare Express App and make a claim by taking a photo of your reciept with your phone.
You can also take your receipt to any Medicare office and they will process the rebate for you. (Please note that Medicare no longer pays rebates in cash)
Are there any exceptions?
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Visits to the nurse for things like Pap Smears, short term dressings and Government funded immunisations will continue to be bulk billed.
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Workers Compensation & Compulsory 3rd Party Claims.
All patients are responsible for paying for all consultations that are related to a Workers Compensation Claim or Third Party Claim—until we have received notification from your Insurance Company that liability has been accepted and a claim number issued. If liability is declined any outstanding fees for consultation related to your claim will be your responsibility.
If you make an appointment for a consultation with your GP to review your workers compensation claim and ask the GP for advice on an un-related health issue, this counts as a separate consultation and you will also be charged a private fee.
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Complaints, Disputes.
We are doing our best to inform all patients of these changes in advance so that there are no surprises at your next appointment. Please do not make an appointment if you will not pay for the service provided.
Please do not argue with Reception staff regarding this policy. Every effort will be made to inform you of any possible out-of-pocket expenses but staff do not set the fees or the policies and they are just doing their jobs. Payment is expected at the time of consultation. Accounts are not provided.
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If you feel that our policy is unfair, or that you should not have to pay for general medical services - please direct your complaints to the local Federal Member of Parliament. Unless the Government increases the Medicare rebate in line with our standard fees, this policy will not change.
If you feel that our policy is so unreasonable you would like to attend a different practice, we will arrange for the transfer of your medical records upon receipt of a transfer form from your new practice. Note: for more than 20 pages there is a fee for this service.