The federal government denies GP bulk-billing rates are falling as a result of its Medicare freeze - but it's not releasing the exact figures that could back up its claim.
The government insists bulk-billing of GP services is at an all-time high at 85.1 per cent.
It cites official figures showing 123 million out of 145 million GP services were fully-funded by the government in 2015/16.
Doctors claim those figures are misleading because they cover a range of Medicare item numbers, insisting patients are paying more to see the doctor as a result of the freeze.
A Senate committee on Wednesday asked the health department to provide a break-down of the numbers, specifically the bulk-billing rate for item 23 - a standard GP consultation of less than 20 minutes, for which the government pays a rebate of $37.05.
The request was met with some resistance before the department said it would provide an answer at a later date.
"There are 5700 items on the Medicare Benefits Schedule," deputy secretary Andrew Stuart said.
"Yes, that's why I went for the most common one," Labor frontbencher Helen Polley replied.
Mr Stuart earlier admitted the department could, in theory, break down the numbers by consultation items.
"We don't usually do that and we don't usually publish that," he said.
"All of the evidence we have in front of us suggests bulk-billing is rising."
The department said patients who aren't bulk-billed have faced higher costs for more than a decade but insisted that could not be linked to the government's freeze.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners claims bulk-billing rates are sitting at 69 per cent, insisting they've plummeted 10 per cent since July as a result of the freeze.
Mr Stuart rejected the RACGP figures.
"I can categorically say that more than 69 per cent of patients are bulk-billed."
Health department secretary Martin Bowles said he personally did not know of any doctor that stopped bulk-billing as a result of the freeze.
