Billing information

Athena Women’s Clinic has been a Bulk Billed medical practice since we opened in 2020, with the exception of a small out-of-pocket fee for procedures. Unfortunately, government health spending isn’t keeping up with rising healthcare costs. Many GP practices have been charging an out-of-pocket fee for some time but we have continued to try and avoid this to the best of our ability. The cost of healthcare is not reflected in the amount the government pays to subsidize GP consults.

Between 2010 and 2020, Medicare rebates increased by an average of just over 1% each year. Rebates were completely frozen between 2014 and 2018.

The cost of running a medical centre has been rising by around 3% per year and in July 2021 the rebate for a standard GP consult increased by just 35 cents! This has not covered the significant increase in costs that occurred over the course of the rebate freeze, let alone the increase in costs of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, we have had to make the very difficult decision to either consider closing the practice permanently or introduce a fee to help cover the costs of running a modern medical practice that strives to provide quality care to all our patients.

As of 31^st October 2022, Athena Women’s Clinic will be charging a fee to all patients (bulk billing remains for patients under the age of 15 years and over 65 years.  For patients over the age of 15 years and under 65 years of age, you will be charged a fee (payment required on the day), and Medicare will rebate a portion of that fee where eligible.  For all questions about fees, please call us on (08) 6116 1285

We realise that there will be some patients who may not be able to afford the fee, but due to the severity of the current situation this is the only way we are able to keep the clinic running.

Once again, please be assured that this decision has not been taking lightly. As mentioned at the start, we have been bulk billing since opening, but due to the severe underfunding of GP practice by the government, we are left with no choice but to either close the medical practice or start charging patients a fee.

We encourage you to write to your local and federal members for parliament so that they know the impact that this is having on the community.

We thank you for your ongoing support.

The team at Athena Women’s Clinic.