News

Call for Government to increase Medicare rebates for longer GP consults

Published: 3 March 2026

MND Australia has joined with 20 other health peak bodies in an open letter to Government calling for an increase in Medicare rebates for longer GP consultations.

People living with complex and progressing conditions, like MND, often require longer consultations with their GP.

We acknowledge the current Federal Government’s commitment to increase access to bulk billed care. But not every long consultation with a specialist GP can be bulk billed.

The only way to reduce out of pocket costs for patients who can’t be bulk billed is to increase the Medicare rebate patients receive for longer consults.

That’s why we are calling on the Government to increase the patient Medicare rebate for longer consultations by 40%.

Currently, the per minute value of patient Medicare rebates decreases as patients spend more time with their specialist GP. That means, for many people, the sicker you are – the more you pay out of pocket.

When people can’t afford longer GP appointments, health conditions get worse. Complications and other health issues develop. People get sicker and need expensive hospital care.

Affordable access to long GP appointments will continue to drive bulk billing rates up, reducing preventable hospital admissions and emergency department presentations to ease the strain on our hospitals.

Analysis shows increasing patient Medicare rebates for long GP appointments would deliver more than $338.9 million in annual healthcare system savings and mean more than 85% of these appointments could be bulk billed.

Our health system must cover the care that keeps people well – not penalise the time it takes to deliver it because there is simply no substitute for high-quality GP care from a specialist GP who knows you and your history.