Bulk Billing Incentive

The bulk billing incentive for patients is tripling from the first of November 2023. Below are some frequently asked questions:

• What is the BB incentive?
• The BB incentive is an additional payment from Medicare when an ELIGIBLE patient is bulk billed.
  ELIGIBLE patients include children under 16 years of age and holders of Commonwealth Concession Cards

• What consult types does it apply to?
• The incentive applies to face-to face consults that are longer than 6 minutes and to telephone and video consults from 6-19 minutes.

• What consult types does it not apply to?
• It does not apply to chronic disease management items, mental health items, eating disorder items, health assessments or procedures. It is not clear yet if it will apply to antenatal item numbers.

• What does this mean for patients?
• There will be no changes to billing policies at Kings Park Clinic. The tripled BB incentive is still a little less than the discounted gap that we offer to eligible patients.

Medicare Threshold

Once you have paid a certain amount of out of pocket expenses you will receive a higher amount back from Medicare. This is called the "Medicare Safety Net".

The link below will explain in more detail what Medicare Safety Nets are, how you can register as an individual or family, what the thresholds are,  how it works and how you can manage your Medicare Safety Nets.