Hundreds of thousands of Aussies owed share of $241 million in unpaid Medicare benefits

More than 930,000 Australians are owed their share of $241 million, the Department of Social Services said on Thursday.

The unpaid Medicare benefits have been withheld from recipients who have not updated their bank details.

The average Australian is owed about $260 each, but 200 Australians are owed sums of more than $10,000.

“Young people are owed the most, with more than 224,000 Australians aged between 18 and 24 owed over $52 million,” National Disability Insurance Scheme and Government Services minister Bill Shorten said.

“Once you update your details, Services Australia will pay your unpaid benefits within three days.”

Shorten said it takes less than a minute for the average person with a myGov account linked to Medicare to check and update their bank details using the myGov app.

Those owed money should be notified directly through their myGov inbox.

“Services Australia is in the process of sending over half a million notifications to people’s myGov inbox asking them to update their details,” Shorten said.

He said the unpaid benefits only make up a “small portion” of the overall Medicare benefits that have been paid out to Australians.

“Services Australia paid almost $30 billion in Medicare benefits to Australians last financial year,” Shorten said.

“All up, we’ve reunited over half a million Australians with $117 million in unpaid Medicare benefits since December 2023.”

Push for rebates to keep up with inflation

The Medicare benefits, which are rebates for subsidised services under the Medicare Benefits Schedule such as seeing a GP, are rising in tandem with skyrocketing medical fees.

But RACGP president Nicole Higgins said earlier this month that Medicare rebates had not kept up with inflation, causing out-of-pocket costs to increase.

“We need meaningful investment in patients’ rebates to make essential healthcare affordable for all Australians,” Higgins said.

An annual survey of more than 3000 GPs and GPs in training by the Royal Australian College of GPs shows the average fee for a 20-minute consultation rose from $74.66 in 2023 to $78.26 in 2024.

The 2024 Health of the Nation report also revealed earlier this month that the number of GPs charging more than $85 for a consultation lifted marginally from 41 per cent to 43 per cent.

More alarmingly, the number of GPs slugging patients more than $90 on average for a consultation spiked from 23 per cent to 37 per cent.

On average, patients were $45 out of pocket after seeing a GP.

The proportion of GPs fully bulk billing their patients remains low (13 per cent) compared with 2022 (24 per cent) as “GPs face significant challenges with the rising cost of providing care and financial viability concerns”.

— With AAP