NEWCASTLE now has the third lowest bulk billing rates in NSW, only beaten by the "well-heeled" suburbs of Warringah and Wentworth in Sydney, federal government data shows.
Information given to Senate Estimates shows more than half of Newcastle patients cannot access bulk billed services when they need to see their GP.
It comes following a warning from Hunter GPs in January that Federal cuts to regional bulk billing incentives could rip more than $7 million dollars out of the medical economy in the region.
Sharon Claydon, the federal member for Newcastle, said the "pretty damning data" given to Senate Estimates showed there had been a 37 per cent increase in out-of-pocket costs to see a doctor in the Newcastle electorate since 2012/13.
Novocastrians were now paying an average of $38.98 in out-of-pocket expenses to see a GP - an increase of almost $11. The data shows out-of-pocket costs for specialists' fees had also spiked by 52 per cent in Newcastle, rising from $57.59 in 2013 to $87.62 in 2019/20.
"For me, the really scary part is the fact that we now have the third lowest bulk billing rates in NSW," Ms Claydon said.
"And I think we have the 14th lowest bulk billing percentages in the nation.
"It is undermining the universality of health care."
Ms Claydon said the Federal cuts to regional bulk billing incentives could push many Newcastle doctors "to the brink".
She said some surgeries had already closed.
It might be all very well for people living somewhere like Warringah or Wentworth - they might be able to afford to go to their doctor of choice and pay for it. But it is a different kettle of fish to Newcastle.
Sharon Claydon
"These figures are the first we have been able to see of what the impacts are for Newcastle around removing those bulk billing incentive payments," she said.
"It's pretty damning. It is chipping away at the foundations of Medicare.
"It might be all very well for people living somewhere like Warringah or Wentworth - they might be able to afford to go to their doctor of choice and pay for it.
"But it is a different kettle of fish to Newcastle."
The data shows 55.5 per cent of patients in the Shortland electorate could access bulk billed GP services in 2019/20, and 63.1 per cent could access them in the Hunter.
It shows out-of-pocket doctors expenses jumped 38 per cent from $26.91 in Shortland in 2013, to $37.23 in 2019/20, while out-of-pocket costs to see a specialist in the electorate increased by more than 44 per cent.
Hunter GP Association appealed to the Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt, in January to reinstate Medical Benefits Schedule incentives.
The association said the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community were already struggling to access primary health care, and that the changes to the Bulk Billing Incentive Payments would take "at least" $7.5 million out of the lower Hunter region, and make it "even harder".
"For the health of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people of the Lower Hunter region, it is of the upmost importance that an exemption be made for this region," the association said in its appeal to Minister Hunt.
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