Patterns in MBS services between 1984 and 2023 by service type
Broad type of service (BTOS) refers to a grouping of MBS services that relate to certain provider groups or services (see Technical notes for more detail). GP attendances and pathology MBS services are the BTOS groups with the highest services rates (services rate of 6.8 and 6.4 per person on average respectively in 2022) (Table 1) and both had an increase in the monthly MBS services rate per person over time. An exception to this is that GP attendances saw a decrease in the services rate between 1995 and 2004 (Figure 3) which was associated with declining bulk-billing rates during this time. There was government action in 2004 to address this decline, including introducing the extended Medicare safety net.
GP attendances and pathology also had the highest MBS subsidy rates in 2022 at 88.8% and 94.6%, respectively (Table 1). Anaesthetics (39.5%) and obstetrics (39.1%) MBS services had the lowest MBS subsidy rates in 2022.
Figure 3: Monthly MBS services rates by service type
Chart: AIHW. Source: MBS funded services dashboard.
Figure 4: Monthly MBS subsidy rates by service type
Chart: AIHW. Source: MBS funded services dashboard.