Around here (SOTR Perth) the only clinics that bulk bill everyone are new clinics - they do it for 2-3 years to build up a patient base and then switch over to full payments. Concession and kids are always bulk billed. And they've tightened right up on appointment use - if you have more than one problem, you need to book and pay for a double appointment, even if they're two small problems. Having to pay $70 has definitely stopped me from going to the doctor on a number of occasions. I don't go to the ER instead, but generally the times I go to the ER, it could've been fixed a week ago by a visit to the GP that I couldn't afford.

The budget's not really going to affect Professor and I, not past the general changes. Although I don't understand the medication cost change, I already pay $60 a month for my meds, I'm hoping it's not going up but it probably is. That doesn't worry the government though, because I'm not eligible for any kind of welfare anyway if I'm not working, so they don't care if I live in the corner of my bedroom like a mushroom