Nearly 1 million Australians have not received their share of $272 million in unclaimed Medicare rebates because they have not registered their bank details.
The money is owed to people who have visited the doctor but not claimed their rebates, with more than a quarter of the affected people aged between 18 and 24.
The average amount owed is $280, but 309 Australians are owed $10,000 or more, according to government figures.
Strengthening Medicare was one of Labor’s big commitments in the 2025 election campaign. (Getty/Bloomberg)
A handful of people are owed more than $30,000, but the government acknowledged that those people could be dead.
Services Australia has been trying to rectify the issue for years, but the amount of unclaimed money has only grown, from $230 million in 2023.
People owed large sums
General manager of Services Australia Hank Jongen says, for affected people, once they registered their bank details, the money would automatically land in their account.
“Believe it or not, it’s simply because we don’t have their bank account details,” he told triple j Hack.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people with Medicare enter into ‘set and forget’ mode.”
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Mr Jongen insists the agency makes special efforts to try to contact those who were owed large sums of money, including emailing their myGov account.
“In addition to that, we contact doctors and say … we don’t have bank account details, [so] when the patient next comes in, could you just encourage them to update their bank account details,” he said.
“But if the trail runs out, in terms of up-to-date address details or bank account details, then we have very few options available to us.”
‘Like winning Lotto’
Of the 972,300 people owed money, more than 253,00 are aged between 18 and 24.
Nurse and lawyer Margaret Faux, who has written a book about medical fees, says the money would make a huge difference for many Australians.
Margaret Faux is encouraging young people especially to check their bank details. (Four Corners)
“It will be like winning Lotto, I’m not even kidding,” Dr Faux told triple j Hack.
Some university students in Canberra who spoke to triple j Hack were unaware they had to register their bank details with Medicare, while others said they were very vigilant about checking their rebates landed in their accounts.
For people bulk-billed for a service, the rebates are not an issue because they would not have paid for their appointment in the first place.
In the lead-up to last May’s federal election, Labor promised to make nine out of 10 GP visits free by increasing bulk-billing incentives for doctors as part of an $8.5 billion pledge.
Figures published last month showed the bulk-billing rate rose from 77.6 per cent between July and September to 81.4 per cent between November and January.
But some Canberra students who spoke to triple j Hack said they struggled to find clinics where bulk-billing was available, while others were not aware of what it was.
The Australian Capital Territory continues to have the lowest number of bulk-billing practices in the country, at 18 clinics.