The practising doctors at Palmers Medical Centre do MIXED BILLING, fee charged for consultations. Some GPS, specialists and allied health fees are different to others.
Patient Appointment Attendance Requirements and Notes
The patient must be present for all appointments. This includes children and toddlers. This is a Medicare requirement.
All new patients over 18 must have a patient ID (Drivers License, Passport etc) to verify their identity.
Any concession cards not provided or not working on the day of the appointment will be treated as no concession card, even if the patient has a concession card that they present later on.
To get a Medicare rebate instantly processed the patient must have a physical DEBIT Card on them.
Some doctors charge different gap fee. Please ask the reception staff prior to the appointment if required.
All allied health and specialist fee and cancelation notice period is different. please ask the reception staff at the time of booking.
For all bulk billed appointments patients must provide consent to the doctor for sending the rebate claim to Medicare.
Palmers Medical Centre Practice Fee – effective 1st March 2024
During regular business hours for standard visits the patients will pay $72.85 upfront and we can process a Medicare rebate of $42.85, i.e. there will be an out of pocket gap fee of $30
During afterhours (i.e. after 8pm on week days, on Saturday, Sunday & Public holiday) the patients will have an out of pocket gap fee of $40, so for standard visit patient will pay $95.80 and get a Medicare rebate of $55.80
Kids 15 and under are bulk billed (except some doctors) at all times, including weekends and public holidays as long as an appointment was booked. For all walk-ins there is an out of pocket fee of $50 at all times.
Concession card holders will be bulk billed (except some doctors) during week days regular hours only i.e. Mon – Friday 8am to 8pm. Outside these hours a $40 gap fee applies for all visits.
Please note some doctors do not bulk bill kids or concession card holders for regular appointments, however all kids are bulk billed for immunisations and everyone is bulk billed for care plans and health assessments.
All patients are expected to settle their account on the day. Accounts not settled on the day will incur an admin charge of $10.
Payments made using credit or debit cards will incur a surcharge depending on card type used. To minimise surcharge please use tap and go debit cards, or pay using cash or transfer to bank
WALK-IN Patients & Emergencies – There will be an out of pocket fee of $50 at all times
New WorkCover Patients – There will be an out of pocket fee of $40 at all times. Patient to pay and get worksafe standard fee re-imbursed from the employer/insurance agency. Existing workcover patients payment arrangement will continue as-is.
Bulk billing available for following services
All national immunisation program vaccinations including childhood vaccinations.
Health Assessments and some Care Plans
Patients without Medicare card – Starting 1st March 2024 for patients with private insurance i.e. overseas students or visitors who have GP visit cover can use their physical or digital health insurance card to claim rebate on the day of consult. Please check with our reception staff if your private healthfund is one of the ones we can send claims as we cannot send for all funds. If our team cannot send your claim you can still get your healthfund to pay you by lodging a claim directly.
There will be out of pocket costs for afterhours telehealth, procedures, wound dressings etc. Please refer to our website – fee section for full details on our fee.
No show / Late cancel fee (cancelled under 2 hours from appointment time) will be $30 for regular hours, $40 for afterhours for standard appointments and $60 for long appointments, $100 for Paediatrician and Psychologist appointments.
PAYMENT OPTIONS – Payments can be made by credit cards (Visa/Mastercard only), EFTPOS Cards, Apple Pay, Cash or transfer to bank account as per the invoice foot notes. A credit/debit card surcharge applies as per the card used. Medicare claims are sent for processing online.
Tyro Medicare Easyclaim is available. Medicare patients, when paying your account in full, this allows an instant refund of the Medicare/ government rebate from Medicare to your Cheque or Savings account using our integrated EFTPOS machine. You will need to bring your debit card linked to savings or cheque account.
Private Insurance Claim is available. Patients with private insurance i.e. overseas students or visitors who have GP visit cover can use their physical or digital health insurance card to claim rebate on the day of consult.
Credit Card required for some appointments All patients, including those with concession cards have to provide credit card details for some appointments including, Telehealth, New Patient, Procedures, Driving Medicals. A few points to note on this
Card details are required for some appointments that are booked online or by our front desk team.
For Telehealth the credit card gets charged the fee owing once the doctor has confirmed the billing. If the doctor has bulk billed you (e.g. for concession card holders) then the card is not charged.
If the patient do not show up for their appoitnment or cancels the appointment under 2 hours time, the Penalty Fee ($30 to $60 depending on appointment length) gets charged to the credit card.
Depending on the appointment type, the payment system we use holds between $1 and $150 on the card to validate the card which is released upon completion of appointment or payment.
If the patient pays in person, the card used to make the booking is not charged as the payment is already completed at the clinic.
When entering the card details in the payment system there is a tick box that allows patients to save their card details for future use so they don’t have to enter their card details for all future appointments.
Thank you for your continued support to help us provide General Practice services.
OTHER FEE
Driving Medicals – TAXI / UBER :
Private Fee – Regular Hours = $132.00 (inc GST)
Private Fee – After Hours = $165.00 (inc GST)
Driving Medicals – TRUCK / BUS / COMMERCIAL :
Private Fee – Regular Hours = $198.00 (inc GST)
Private Fee – After Hours = $242.00 (inc GST)
Please note Drug and Alcohol testing is not included in the above driving medical appointment. If you want to add Drug and Alcohol testing please inform our reception, it requires a seperate booking with our nurse at Truganina and costs an additional fee of $80
Private Fee – Regular Hours = $150.00 – $350.00 +GST (fee determined based on work, please email details and forms to info@palmersmedical.com.au)
Procedure Charges:
All patients must pay the full fee on the day and claim Medicare rebate as advised by the doctor / front desk team. Most procedure below have medicare rebates, please confirm with the staff member or doctor for exact rebate that you will get.
Iron Infusions – $250 (all patients must see their doctor first to discuss the procedure and must see the same doctor to complete their procedure) – Medicare rebate $82.90
Skin Biopsies / Excisions $150 – $300 (the fee will depend on the complexity and time taken to complete, as confirmed by their doctor. All patients must see the doctor first to discuss the procedure and must see the same doctor to complete their procedure)
Wedge resection – $508 (all patients must see their doctor first to discuss the procedure and must see the same doctor to complete their procedure – a medicare rebate of $158 is available)
Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTOP) – $350 ( Medicare rebate $82.90) + initial regular consultation
Ear Syringing – $92.85 ( Medicare rebate $42.85)
Dressing Charges – $25. The dressing fee may be waived for kids and concession card holders on week days regular hours or for smaller dressings.
Telehealth/Telephone consult for patients who are not eligible for it
As per the standard appointment fee – $72.85 – NO MEDICARE Rebate can be claimed.
Certification of documents / Passport / Citizenship paperwork – non-Medicare service
Regular Hours $40
After Hours $60
Preparing Reports for Workcover/Insurance/TAC/other – non-Medicare services
Fee charged depends on the work involved, generally depend on the number of questions and expected responses and the patient file size. The fee can range from $150 to $950
Late Cancellation (within 2 hours) / Did Not Attend Fee for GPs / Allied Health / Specialists Appointments:
Standard Consultation – Regular Hours : $30
Standard Consultation – After Hours : $40
Long Consultation: $60
Paediatrician and Psychologist Appointments: $100 for no show or cancelled within 24 hours of appointment time
Transfer of Medical Records:
Standard File : $20
Large File : $30
Private Flu Vaccine: $20
FEE FAQs
Why now, after so many years of bulk billing are you changing to private billing?
The doctors at Palmers Medical Centre have been bulk billing at Truganina centre for past 8+ years though Medicare rebates have not increased as per cost of living or even CPI hoping that they would go up one day to be same but they haven’t and with recent increases in cost of living, which inturns increased the outgoing costs, in some areas as much as 80% increase so doctors are left with no choice but to move to private billing.
When the doctors arebulk billing they are effectively taking a 50% discount from the AMA advised rate. This is no longer sustainable .
Please feel free to contact your local members of parliament to lobby for appropriate primary care funding to ensure doctors can maintain quality care at an affordable price for the community they care deeply about.
Isn’t your centre funded by government? Don’t Medicare pay for all your costs?
No, the centre is not funded directly by government or Medicare. We are a private business like most other small businesses. Our majority of income come from fee paid by the patient for their visit to see their GPs, who inturn pay a facility fee to rent room/facilities at the medical centre.
What other costs do doctors or centre have? Isn’t the Medicare rebate enough?
Both the practice and doctors are a private business like most other small businesses and have similar costs including rent, staff wages, power bill, telephone bills, IT, medical supplies, office/IT supplies, cleaning etc. Medicare rebate has only increased by 7% overall in last 10 years. How much did other costs of businesses or everything that you know went up in last 10 years?
But I cannot afford the fee?
The doctors are happy to bulk bill patients with any of their current valid concession cards for consultations during week days from 8am to 6pm.
ALL Consultations after 8pm on week days, on Saturday/Sunday and public holidays will have a gap fee.
Can I pay just the gap fee?
No, you have to pay the full fee on the day. We can process the medicare refund (if you have a medicare card) immediately into a cheque/saving account debit card if you have one, using tyro easyclaim.
If you do have a debit card linked to your savings or cheque account we can process the medicare rebate to be paid into the bank account linked to your medicare card in the Medicare system.
If your bank account is not linked, we will give you the payment reciept that you can use to claim the rebate back from Medicare, online using their app or by visiting their office.
What are my payment options?
You can pay using credit/debit card, eftpos card or apple pay.
How do I get my Medicare Rebate back?
If you have registered your bank account details with Medicare, our system allows us to process your rebate (refund) to your account as soon as possible. Please ask our friendly staff for more details.
I need a longer appointment, do I need to pay more gap fee?
No, the doctors are happy to charge the same gap fee irrespective of standard or long appointment. So if you have more than 1 health issue, have complex medical issues, or require a Mental Health Consultation or Plan we recommend arranging a double appointment.
Do I have to pay the gap for short visits too?
There are some exceptions, e.g. the following visits can be bulk billed
Vaccines under National Immunisation Program (NIP) -e.g. flu vaccines, COVID vaccines, childhood vaccinations with no other consultation at the same time.
Health assessment and some care plans.
What is the gap fee if I come as a walk-in patient?
Walk-in patients are charged a gap fee of $50 at all times, irrespective of age or whether you have concession cards.
Can we claim the gap back from our private insurance if we have one?
As far as we are aware private insurance doesn’t cover the gap fee for general practice visits. But please check with your insurance by quoting gap fee for MBS Items 23 or 5020 which are standard visit item numbers charged by general practitioners.
Is it allowed for General Practice to charge a gap for GP visits?
Operating as a private business, GPs are free to determine reasonable fees that are reflective of the services they provide. Please check the following links for more info.
From what we know there are many doctors in our area and right across the country who are converting to private billing as bulk billing is not viable anymore for most. Please see these recent news articles:
