Some GP clinics and private hospitals are raising consultation and facility fees after Australia's checkout surcharge ban removed their ability to pass card-processing costs to patients, the Australian Financial Review reported Friday. The shift collides with a federal decision to temporarily fund Australian Taxation Office surcharges on tax payments, highlighting how one-size payment rules ripple differently through retail, health and government desks.
Where the money moved
Practice-management software bills and terminal fees did not disappear when surcharges ended on 1 October. Clinics that once added 1 to 1.5 per cent on card payments are folding those costs into headline fees or absorbing them until the next annual review. Private hospitals face larger merchant bills on admission deposits, prompting similar adjustments.
Patients on Medicare bulk-billing mixes may see gaps widen on mixed-billing practices first, because those clinics already rely on patient contributions for viability. Rural operators with thin volumes feel the change fastest.
Insurers add another pressure point
The same AFR report noted private health insurers warning that scrapping the insurance rebate for people aged 65 and over could push older Australians out of hospital cover. Combined with higher GP gaps, households face a double squeeze on out-of-pocket health costs even as PBS price reductions took effect on 1 October for listed medicines.
Policy contradiction patients notice
Treasurer Jim Chalmers spent the week reversing the ATO card ban after small-business social media campaigns, yet health providers were not exempt from the original rule. Patients paying higher consult fees may struggle to see why tax bills deserved a Treasury subsidy while flu vaccines did not.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners advocates have asked for targeted relief on practice software and terminals. Without it, fee increases risk becoming the default surcharge substitute—undermining the consumer protection the ban was meant to deliver.
Telehealth and mixed billing
Clinics that relied on card surcharges for telehealth deposits are revisiting whether to require bank-transfer prepayment instead, adding friction for elderly patients uncomfortable with PayID. The Australian Medical Association has asked Treasury to recognise that merchant fees on health practices differ from café terminals because Medicare bulk-billing mixes reduce average transaction sizes.
Hospital groups negotiating with insurers say any rebate change for over-65s would arrive just as card costs rise, a political headache Health Minister Mark Butler's office has not publicly detailed. Patients comparing October PBS savings against higher consult gaps may conclude that federal cost-of-living wins are uneven across portfolios.
Pharmacy owners face parallel terminal costs on vaccine and script transactions, suggesting the surcharge fight will spread beyond GP waiting rooms unless Treasury offers sector-specific relief. Consumer groups want a single ACCC dashboard comparing out-of-pocket health fees by postcode.
Rural doctors groups said bulk-billing clinics in towns under 5,000 people may reduce hours before raising fees, narrowing access unless Medicare rebates rise in the mid-year economic statement.