Mr Jenkins asked the Minister for Health and Family Services, upon notice, on 26 June 1997:

(1) How many Medicare services were provided in (a) Victoria and (b) the electoral division of Scullin during (i) 1995-96 and (ii) the period 1 July 1996 to 26 June 1997.

(2) How many Medicare services per capita were provided in (a) Victoria and (b) the electoral division of Scullin during (i) 1995-96 and (ii) the period 1 July 1996 to 26 June 1997.

(3) What proportion of Medicare services were direct billed in (a) Victoria and (b) the electoral division of Scullin during (i) 1995-96 and (ii) the period 1 July 1996 to 26 June 1997.

(4) What proportion of Medicare services were provided at or below the schedule fee in (a) Victoria and (b) the electoral division of Scullin during (i) 1995-96 and (ii) the period 1 July 1996 to 26 June 1997.

Dr Wooldridge —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) The number of Medicare services provided in Victoria in 1995-96 and 1996-97 were 48,673,762 and 50,011,710, respectively. In 1995-96 and 1996-97, the number of Medicare services provided in the federal electoral division of Scullin were 907,376 and 936,973, respectively.

(2) The number of per capita Medicare services provided in Victoria in 1995-96 and 1996-97 were

10.7 and 11, respectively. In the federal electoral division of Scullin in 1995-96 and 1996-97, the number of Medicare services per capita were 7.3 and 7.5, respectively.

(3) The proportion of Medicare services direct billed in Victoria in 1995-96 and 1996-97 were 69 per cent and 70.3 per cent, respectively. In 1995-96 and 1996-97, the proportion of Medicare services direct billed in the federal electoral division of Scullin were 88 per cent and 88.3 per cent, respectively.

(4) The proportion of services provided at or below the schedule fee in Victoria in 1995-96 and 1996-97 were 81 per cent and 81.6 per cent, respectively. In 1995-96 and 1996-97, the proportion of Medicare services provided at or below the schedule fee in the federal electoral division of Scullin were 90.8 per cent and 90.9 per cent, respectively.

The above data were based on an analysis of Medicare claims processed by the Health Insurance Commission in the respective years.

BACKGROUND

Details of Medicare services provided in Victoria, and in the electoral division of Scullin in 1995-96 and 1996-97, are as follows:

These data was compiled from claims processed by the Health Insurance Commission in the respective periods in question.

Medicare data can be compiled by servicing provider postcode or by enrolment postcode of patient. In aggregating data to electoral division, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing 1991, which are available at the postcode and electoral division level, were used to apportion Medicare data by postcode to electoral division, for postcodes overlapping electoral division boundaries. For example, if from the Census, 90 per cent of the population for a postcode was in the electoral division of Scullin, then 90 per cent of the

Medicare services for that postcode were included in the electoral division of Scullin.

In accordance with the question, the above data relate to services rendered in Victoria and the electoral division of Scullin in the respective periods.

In compiling per capita data, the latest population estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for 1995-96, were used for both years. Population estimates for 1996-97 are not available.

The standard electorate profiles produced by the Department of Health and Family Services contain data by electoral division of patient. Data for 1995-96, based on patient region, are as follows: