medicare won’t fund a lifesaver
A SIMPLE test that could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars has been knocked back for Medicare funding, despite evidence showing its impact in stopping Australia’s most devastating killer — heart disease.
The condition kills 51 people every day — more than any other single illness — and injures a person every ten minutes, new figures show.
Heart disease is the single biggest killer of Territorians.
A SIMPLE test that could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars has been knocked back for Medicare funding, despite evidence showing its impact in stopping Australia’s most devastating killer — heart disease. The condition kills 51 people every day — more than any other single illness and is the single biggest killer of Territorians. Analysis by the Heart Foundation reveals the economic cost is a staggering $6.7 billion a year, which combines the $2 billion hit to the health budget and lost productivity in the workforce. And the personal impact is enormous.
Yet it is relatively ignored, compared to other diseases. And there is no Medicare rebate for a heart test that could save more than $1.5 billion for a cost of $170 million.
“During the half-hour people spent having breakfast today, another person died; in the hour it took to read this newspaper, we would increase that by two more. This is a tragic scenario and we simply cannot allow it to continue,” said Heart Foundation CEO Professor John Kelly.
One in four people who’ve had a heart attack will never work again and will have difficulty bathing and dressing themselves, one in three have difficulty grocery shopping and it affects their sex life and energy for hobbies.
Millions of Australians are at risk of having a heart attack in the next five years but most won’t know this because we have no national screening program for the disease.
Public ignorance is at a massive high, with most Australians unaware of their heart health. That is why the Sunday Territorian is partnering with the Heart Foundation to call on the Federal Government to introduce Medicare-funded heart health checks to stop the slaughter. It’s estimated the checks would cost Medicare $170 million over five years and if they resulted in more people taking medication it could cost a further $600 million but overall it would save the economy more than $1.5 billion. More importantly the heart health check would prevent 76,500 heart attacks over the next five years.
RACGP president Dr Harry Nespolon says a Medicare rebate for a heart health check would provide an incentive for GPs to do the test and would act as a reminder for patients.
The Australian Medical Association, however says it does not support a new Medicare item number for a single disease and would prefer a new longer consultation where all types of preventable diseases could be checked.
It’s time for our leaders to #SHOWSOMETICKER and tackle this disease.
“This is a tragic scenario and we simply cannot allow it to continue” PROF JOHN KELLY