Patients are increasingly holding off seeing a GP due to the cost of appointments, despite more clinics offering bulk billing.

A Productivity Commission report revealed the number of people delaying an appointment or not attending at all due to price had doubled.

In 2022/23, 7 per cent of respondents who needed to see a GP did not visit due to cost, compared with 3.5 per cent the previous year.

In NSW alone, the number of people putting off visits to the doctor rose from 4.4 per cent in 2021/22 to 9.5 per cent in 2022/23.

It comes despite a national rise in the number of GP clinics offering bulk billing to patients.

Federal government data from November showed a 2.1 percentage point rise in the national GP bulk-billing rate.

An extra 360,000 appointments have been bulk- billed since November, when the incentive for doctors to offer the subsidised visits tripled.

The figures, released by the federal government on Thursday coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Medicare, showed $15 million had been saved in gap fees since the tripling of the bulk-billing initiatives.

GPs have received triple the benefits to bulk-bill patients on concession cards and children under 16, with further financial incentives for clinics in regional areas.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the extra financial incentives were making a difference for clinics and patients.

“The Albanese government committed to making it easier for people to see a bulk-billing doctor, and the first two months of data show that is exactly what is happening right around the country, particularly in rural and regional areas,” he said.

“At the same time, general practice incomes have increased.

“This is a win all round, for patients, doctors and the health system, and it is helping to make Medicare stronger than it has ever been since Labor introduced it 40 years ago.”

The number of GP clinics offering bulk billing had increased in every state and territory. Tasmania had the greatest increase of 5.7 percentage points, followed by South Australia with 3.8 percentage points.

NSW still leads for the number of clinics offering bulk billing with 82.3 per cent, followed by 78.3 per cent of GPs in Victoria and 75.8 per cent in Queensland.

The ACT had Australia’s lowest rate for subsidised GP visits, with just 53.4 per cent of clinics in the nation’s capital offering bulk billing.

-AAP