00:00 "Ok so next week for the board report..."
00:05 Once Gemma Sims has paid rent and all of her family's costs, she doesn't have much left
00:09 for visits to the doctor.
00:11 "When I do access a GP, which I haven't for a very long time, it's really expensive."
00:17 She has a health care card, but she says she hasn't been able to find any clinics that
00:21 bulk bill, and she's been prioritising her children's medical appointments.
00:25 "I'm missing out, I haven't been to the GP in at least three years."
00:31 To help people like Gemma, in last year's budget, the government raised the incentive
00:35 it pays to GPs to bulk bill.
00:38 It says it's working.
00:39 In the first two months, bulk billing rose 2.1 percentage points.
00:43 "In November and December alone, just two months, there were 360,000 additional free
00:50 visits to the doctor."
00:52 The health minister says some of the biggest increases in these appointments have been
00:55 in regional areas and in Tasmania, where bulk billing rates have been low.
01:00 "We need to have in mind continued access for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged
01:06 people in our community."
01:07 "Of course we want to see more increases into the future, but we've managed in one short
01:12 year to stop the slide and to start to see a turnaround."
01:17 When Peter Dutton was health minister, the bulk billing rates were about 84%.
01:21 Under Mark Butler, just over 77%.
01:24 GPs want further increases to Medicare rebates paid to primary care providers.
01:29 "If you invest in general practice, we get the outcomes that are needed for our patients."
01:35 That would help people like Gemma Sims.
01:37 "I've seen no difference and it's certainly not made it any easier for me financially
01:43 to access medical care at all."
01:47 That means universal health care remains out of her reach.
01:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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