Bulk Billing at Varo Medical

What is Bulk Billing?

You've heard of bulk billing, but what does it actually mean?

To answer that, we have to go back to the beginning.

A (Very) Brief History

Medicare was developed in the 1970s (originally called Medibank) as Australia's universal health insurance scheme. The idea was simple: give everyone access to healthcare, whether they're seeing a specialist in hospital or a GP down the road.

Medicare works by providing rebates. These are set amounts it's willing to pay toward the cost of a health service. When you visit a GP, Medicare chips in. You pay the rest, if there is any. Not every service attracts a rebate, but GP consultations generally do.

So What Is Bulk Billing, Exactly?

Bulk billing is when your doctor agrees to accept the Medicare rebate as their full payment and bills Medicare directly, rather than going through you. The name actually comes from the old days, when doctors would send their claims to Medicare in batches at the end of the day. The bulk billing name stuck.

What does that mean for you? No gap fees. No upfront costs. 

Does Varo Medical Bulk Bill?

Yes, but with a few conditions (sorry!).

We offer a dedicated bulk billing appointment type. These are a shorter consultation than our standard private consultations and they are designed for a single issue. These appointments are available to all patients with a valid Medicare card, but only during certain hours of the day. 

At the end of the consultation you'll be asked to confirm you're happy to be bulk-billed. This is called the assignment of benefit (AoB). This can be done by pressing a button on our Tyro terminal on the way out or if you’ve had a telehealth consultation, you can accept via the HotDoc prompts afterwards. 

To book, head to HotDoc and select the bulk billed appointment type to see what's available. Or give us a call and we'll help you find a time that works.

If you need more time with your doctor, we also offer standard and long appointments. These do carry an out-of-pocket fee.

Why Don't You Bulk Bill Everything?

Great question. We would if we could.

The honest answer is that Medicare rebates aren't high enough for us to deliver the kind of thorough, specialist-level GP care we're committed to. Running a medical practice comes with a lot of costs: rent, staff, equipment, and plenty of behind-the-scenes admin. The rebate alone doesn't cover it, so gap fees help us keep the quality of care high.

We know that's not ideal, and we're always looking at ways to make your care more affordable without cutting corners on quality.

One thing worth knowing is the Medicare Safety Net and how it can help reduce your out-of-pocket costs over time. We'll cover how that works in a future post.