Why this matters for your practice
The BBPIP is the largest change to general practice bulk billing economics in a generation. From 1 November 2025 it added a 12.5% loading payment for practices that bulk bill, and at the same time the tripled bulk billing incentive was extended to every Medicare-eligible patient, not just children under 16 and concession card holders as before. For a practice that already bulk bills heavily, the program can materially change the maths on whether to keep bulk billing.
But the money is gated. You only receive the BBPIP loading if your practice has taken specific registration steps, and the loading only applies to services that are actually bulk billed.
How the 12.5% loading works
For every $1 of Medicare benefit paid on an eligible bulk-billed service, a participating practice receives an additional 12.5% loading. That loading is split 50/50 between the practice and the individual GP who provided the service. It is paid on top of the normal MBS benefit and on top of the bulk billing incentive items, not instead of them.
Payments follow quarterly assessment periods (July to September, October to December, January to March and April to June) and are made within the month after each period ends. The first period covered November and December 2025.
What you must do to qualify
- Be an eligible practice type. Accreditation depends on timing: a practice not already registered in MyMedicare that joins BBPIP is exempt from MyMedicare accreditation requirements, while a practice already in MyMedicare must keep meeting them.
- Be registered for MyMedicare.
- Add BBPIP as a program in the Organisation Register.
- Bulk bill every eligible MBS service for every Medicare-eligible patient, including eligible DVA patients. Patients do not need to be registered with MyMedicare.
Bulk billing every eligible service is the condition of payment. If any provider at the site privately bills an eligible service to a Medicare-eligible patient, outside the narrow cases the BBPIP Program Guidelines allow (such as a patient with no Medicare card number), the practice does not meet the requirements for that quarter and there is no partial payment.
The Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Act 2026 added a Part V for incentive payment programs to the Health Insurance Act 1973 from 17 October 2026. BBPIP moves under it when the Minister makes the incentive payment programs rules that prescribe it; until then it runs under its Program Guidelines.
BBPIP is not the same as the bulk billing incentive
Two different things share similar names. The bulk billing incentive (items such as 10990) is paid per service at the time of billing. The BBPIP is a separate quarterly practice-level loading on top of that. A bulk-billed consult can attract both. Confusing the two leads practices to assume they are already in the program when they are not.
Common mistakes
- Not registering for MyMedicare first. No MyMedicare, no BBPIP.
- Forgetting to add BBPIP in the Organisation Register. Eligibility is not automatic.
- Expecting the loading on non-bulk-billed services. Privately billed services do not attract it.
- Not reconciling the GP split. The 50% practitioner share has implications for payroll and contractor arrangements that should be documented.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the BBPIP and when did it start?
The Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program started on 1 November 2025. It pays participating practices a 12.5% loading on the Medicare benefit for eligible bulk-billed services, on top of the existing bulk billing incentive, and extended the tripled incentive to all Medicare-eligible patients.
How much is the BBPIP worth?
The BBPIP pays an extra 12.5% of the Medicare benefit on each eligible bulk-billed service, split evenly between the practice and the GP. The total depends on the MBS benefits paid for your eligible services in the quarter, and it is paid only if every eligible service for every Medicare-eligible patient was bulk billed.
Do I need MyMedicare to get BBPIP?
Yes. To participate in the BBPIP a practice must be registered for MyMedicare and must add BBPIP as a program in the Organisation Register. Bulk billing alone, without those registration steps, does not earn the loading.
Related terms
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