The Australian Parliament is undertaking an inquiry into the Medicare Benefits Schedule changes that took effect from 1 November 2025 (including expanding bulk billing incentives to all Medicare patients and changes to the Better Access program, Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) and diagnostic imaging). Terms of reference for this inquiry can be found here. 

The Policy Team will be making a submission to this inquiry and is looking for feedback via email . Feedback is particularly sought on the following:

• What, if any, impact on access to primary care or telehealth have you observed since the 1 November changes?  
• What, if any, impact on access to primary care or telehealth do you expect over time for rural, regional and remote Australians as a result of the changes? 
• Have the new Medicare and bulk-billing incentives contributed to avoidable emergency presentations and preventable hospital admissions in rural, regional and remote Australia or do you expect them to over time?  
• Does Medicare provide adequate support for multi-disciplinary care teams?
• Will the financial sustainability of practices and related services in rural, regional or remote areas be impacted by the changes, positively or negatively, and what further improvements are required? 

Please feel free to email any additional comments or feedback to: policy@acrrm.org.au