Johnathan Davis pushes for greater transparency for doctors' fees

Bulk billing rates in the territory are among the lowest in the nation and only about five per cent of general practitioners bulk bill all patients, an online directory, Cleanbill, has found.

Greens backbencher Johnathan Davis has urged the government to do more to promote services which show general practitioner rates, including Cleanbill, Health Direct and Hot Doc.

Mr Davis said this was crucial to making it easier for more people to see a doctor.

"In response to feedback from my constituents is in the absence of that information and the need to call up and ask 'hey can I be bulk billed'," he said.

"And there are people who just aren't making that phone call and what that means is they're not seeing their doctor.

"Being able to access information in a way that feels safe, in a way that you're able to manage and in a way that helps healthcare consumers make their own decisions and balance their own household budgets."

Cleanbill founder James Gillespie compiled the list of Canberra general practitioners and their rates but had to ring up all of the territory's 100 clinics.

He said few general practitioners provided readily available information on their pricing online.

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"With bulk billing rates so law and out-of-pocket costs so high, it's critically important that Canberrans have access to up-to-date pricing and availability information for all the clinics in their area," Mr Gillespie said.

"Yet, there remain considerable informational barriers to accessing available, affordable primary care across both the ACT and Australia.

"One quarter of GP clinics do not have a website and only 10 per cent of those that do display their pricing information online, with fewer than one per cent displaying availability information."

Mr Davis moved a motion in the Assembly on Thursday afternoon related to this. It was supported by Labor.

The Liberals did not oppose the motion but did attempt to make amendments to call out the ACT government for calling general practice clinics about payroll tax backpay.

Doctors have said this could cause appointments to rise by about $15.

The opposition's amendments were not supported.

Ms Davis also called for the government to continue work with the federal government on improving access to bulk billing in the territory.

"Canberra actually has the lowest rates of bulk billing anywhere in the country, which disproportionately affects people from low and even medium income households, as more and more families are seeing inflation and rising interest rates, impact on the household budget," he said.

"I think it's really important the ACT government do absolutely everything in its power to encourage doctors to provide bulk billing services to support GP practices and GP clinics to provide bulk billing services, but importantly, support the provision of timely, accurate and accessible information to Canberrans."

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