In the Northern Territory the electorate of Solomon covering urban Darwin had a nine percentage point reduction.

 In the Northern Territory the electorate of Solomon covering urban Darwin had a nine percentage point reduction.

It is hard to imagine any demographic shift that would lead to such rapid changes in bulk-billing levels.

It is more likely due to changed doctor behaviour, as practices with long waiting times and little competition realised that they can change their billing practices without losing patients (or revenue).

Once a few practices successfully make the switch, others in the region realise that they can follow suit.

4. Bulk billing practices can be viable

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the data is that there were still 40 electorates where more than three-quarters of the population were bulk billed for all their GP attendances in 2021-22.

This suggests that it was still possible to offer a high level of bulk billing while maintaining a viable practice as recently as eight months ago. This calls into question demands from some doctor groups for a doubling of the MBS rebate to restore the viability of general practice. Such a policy change would cost billions of dollars, much of which would flow to doctors who are already bulk billing most of their patients.