Primary Health Care will introduce more price competition into the ACT market by offering bulk billed standard GP appointments to Medicare card holders at its Ginninderra Medical and Dental Centre in Belconnen.

The ACT has the lowest bulk billing rate in Australia, with only 48 per cent of GP appointments fully charged to the federal government, compared to a national rate of 81 per cent.

According to the Productivity Commission, 15 per cent of ACT residents deferred GP appointments in 2010-11 due to cost issues.

A spokeswoman for Primary Health Care said the resumption of bulk billing for most patients would provide Belconnen residents with access to quality health care, reducing the burden on other services such as hospitals.

''In an increasingly difficult economic environment Ginninderra Medical and Dental Centre is responding to community needs and removing the co-payment fee to ensure patients have affordable, accessible, quality health care on the day they need it, by having the consultation bulk billed,'' the spokeswoman said.

''GPs have an important role in supporting the long-term health of a patient and cost should not be a barrier to health care access with any delay potentially detrimental for patient clinical outcomes.''

Primary Health Care trialled co-payments following successive federal budget cuts to general practice, the spokeswoman said.

''The current $34.90 Medicare rebate covers only about half the cost of seeing a GP,'' she said.

Primary Health Care announced last month that it planned to roll back co-payments in many of its large general practice clinics.

It is yet to announce the timing of any changes to bulk billing policies at it its Phillip clinic.

The Ginninderra clinic has 16 GPs and extended opening hours seven days a week.

It does not offer bookings for appointments and patients can choose to wait for the first available doctor or for the doctor of their choice.

Belconnen residents seeking bulk billing doctors have also benefited from the recent expansion of the West Belconnen Health Co-op which charges members a small annual fee for access to bulk billed appointments.

The co-op, which has 10 doctors, last week added a Page clinic to its existing practices in Charnwood and the Belconnen Town Centre.

Co-op chairman Michael Pilbrow said the service had 10 doctors and more than 10,000 members.

''When we started there had been a number of closures in the West Belconnen area and a lot of people were struggling to find a doctor,'' Mr Pilbrow said.

''We're really pleased that after five years of hard work to get to opening day that in the two years since opening we've been able to consolidate a successful business model.''