The federal MP for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie says she is concerned about the number of constituents who are telling her that their General Practitioners (GPs) are no longer bulk-billing - even their most vulnerable patients.

She says even more concerning is hearing reports that no Victor Harbor GPs now offer bulk-billing.

Victor has the highest proportion of aged pension recipients in the state.

"My grave concern here is that some of our most vulnerable members of the community - aged pensioners and disability support pensioners, many with multiple health conditions, will be put in the most difficult of positions - whether to pay to visit their GP or whether to put food on the table or pay the electricity bill," Ms Sharkie says.

Medicare scheduled fees for GPs have stalled over recent years and doctors say they cannot continue to fill the gap between their fees and the rapidly increasing costs of delivering healthcare to their communities.

Ms Sharkie wrote to the new Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, shortly after he was appointed to ask the federal government to urgently address the problem.

"This situation may result in community members putting off primary health care, or attending hospital emergency departments for budgetary reasons, creating more pressure on our over-worked health workers, and the health system overall." Ms Sharkie says.

"I have therefore asked the Government to make changes to the existing Medicare rebate structure and other measures to better encourage GPs to bulk-bill especially aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, people aged under 16 years, and concession card holders."

Ms Sharkie says that while she has had positive discussions with Mr Butler around the government’s $750 million commitment to the Strengthening Medicare Fund, she will be closely monitoring communiques and the report of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce, due at the end of this year.

"It is definitely promising that Minister Butler has his sights set on this serious issue, but without concrete actions to improve all Australians’ access to health care, including through bulk-billing, our most vulnerable will fall through the health-care cracks."

"This will cost their health, and the system, much more in the long run. I therefore urge the federal government to act sooner rather than later in addressing this issue."

The Greater Fleurieu Medical Centre closed its Yankalilla surgery on July 15 due to a lack of doctors.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) says medicare rebates for GP consultations haven’t kept pace with the cost of providing high-quality care, and the full impact of the rebate freeze stretching from 2013 to 2019 is still being keenly felt.

“While Medicare patient rebates increased on 1 July this year; it was only by a miserly 1.6 per cent, which equates to 65 cents for a standard consult. When you consider the most recent inflation figure of 6.1 per cent and the enormous costs practices are shouldering while managing patients during a pandemic you can see what we are up against," RACPG President Professor Karen Price said in August.

“This is a key reason why it is proving so challenging to attract future doctors to general practice. Just 16 per cent of medical students are considering general practice as their preferred specialty, and we also have a maldistribution of GPs that is disproportionately affecting rural and remote areas nation-wide."

"Without proper investment this will only worsen. More and more patients will struggle to find a GP taking bookings and others will no longer have their consultations bulk billed, which can result in patients delaying or avoiding care and having their health conditions deteriorate."

"Let’s not go down that path, because that is not what Australia is about. As a nation we are proud of universal healthcare, and we must future-proof it and protect it at all costs.”