The Albanese Government is committed to strengthening Medicare, and to supporting access to bulk billed pathology services.

At the budget in May last year we made a $6.1 billion investment to strengthen Medicare, including the largest ever investment in bulk billing. We’re now seeing more visits to the GP being bulk billed right across the country.

Under existing arrangements, 99.6% of pathology tests provided outside of hospital are bulk-billed - that means that if you go for a pathology test at your local GP clinic, you’ll be getting bulk-billed 99.6% of the time.

In 2022-23 the Government paid $3.6 billion to support the delivery of more than 162 million pathology services through Medicare, importantly supporting free access to pathology services.

The Government will continue to work closely with the pathology sector and focus on the needs of patients.

Our priority is to ensure that all Australians have access to affordable healthcare - that’s why we are continuing to invest in strengthening Medicare.