Ermington

It is with a heavy heart to announce that our practice will no longer be able to fully bulk-bill all of our patients commencing on the 1st of July, 2022. As a family medical practice, we have collectively endeavoured as best we could to provide a premium healthcare service under Medicare.

We are committed in providing high quality care to our patients and community. The reason for the introduction of a gap fee for some patients is the rising costs of running a general practice and the reluctance of the government in funding these higher costs. It is simply no longer feasible for our practice to provide high quality care service to our patients under these current circumstances.

Please see below our new billing terms:

Monday to Friday:
– Concession health care card holders and children under 16 with a pre-booked weekday appointment will be bulk billed
– For all other patients, a $30 Gap Fee will apply including Telehealth (Phone or Video) consultations.
– For walk-in appointments where there is no other available appointment, a $30 gap fee will apply despite concession status or age.

– Cervical screening performed by the doctor will incur a $30 gap fee regardless of pension/concession status

Saturday:
– A $35 gap fee will apply for all Saturday GP appointments regardless of Concession entitlements.

Additional Gap Fees also apply for certain procedures
Please see our reception for further details.

All payments are processed electronically and if you provide a PHYSICAL DEBIT BANK CARD (with a linked bank account) we can process your MEDICARE REBATE instantly. Otherwise you can either claim it online with the receipt provided or ask our receptionists to send it through the Medicare System (please allow 1 to 2 business days for the rebate to be processed by Medicare).

Nurse appointments

If an appointment is made with the nurse and the doctor is required to attend the consultation, that consultation will be charged directly to Medicare with no out-of-pocket cost to the patient. A gap will be charged if the patient wishes to discuss another matter on the same visit subject to doctor’s availability.

Extended Medicare Safety Net

We strongly encourage patients to register as a family for the Extended Medicare Safety Net which allows you to reach the safety net threshold sooner: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/medicare/medicare-safety-nets
• Once you have reached the EMSN, you will receive back 80% of out-of-pocket gap fees for the rest of the calendar year, in addition to the usual Medicare rebate (capped at different amounts for different items).
• Example 1: If the doctor charges $70.00 for the service, the patient’s out-of-pocket cost before EMSN benefits are paid is $29.90 (fee charged by provider minus the MBS benefit received). The EMSN benefit for this service is calculated to be $23.95 (80% of the patient’s out-of-pocket cost). As a result, the total cost incurred by the patient is $5.95.
• Example 2: If the doctor charges $90.00 for the service, the patient’s out-of-pocket cost before EMSN benefits are paid is $49.90 (fee charged by provider minus the MBS benefit received). The EMSN benefit for this service would be calculated to be $39.95 (80% of the out-of-pocket cost) however, as this item has an EMSN benefit cap, the patient will receive the cap amount of $32.95. As a result, the total cost incurred by the patient is $16.95.