MEDICARE benefits cost the tax-payer more than $10.85 billion in the second half of last year, according to new figures.
GP bulk billing rates also jumped to 85.4 per cent - up from 84.7 per cent. This is the highest figure ever for the July to December period.
Australians visited the GP 73.5 million times for general attendance services (up 1.4 million) and the overall number of medical services subsidised by Medicare during the second half of 2016 rose 1.7 million to 192.7 million.
The bulk billing rate for total Medicare services remains at 77.8 per cent. That is because the bulk billing rate for in-hospital pathology services has dropped slightly because it is increasingly being claimed on private health insurance.
The figures were released by the Departments of Health and Human Services.
