Budget incentives for Australian GPs unlikely to increase available bulk-billing appointments, experts say

Health policy analysts say payment boost will not reverse the trend of practices already charging patients gap fees

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Budget incentives aimed at GPs are unlikely to increase the number of bulk-billing appointments available, or prompt clinics that have moved to private fees back to providing bulk-billed care, health policy experts and GPs say.

A health policy analyst and former senior public servant of two decades with the federal department of health, Charles Maskell-Knight, said the bulk-billing incentive increases announced in the budget will encourage GPs already bulk billing to keep doing so, but will not reverse the trend of practices charging some patients a private fee or scrapping bulk billing altogether.

Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup