Heart health check at risk

Medicare subsidy under cloud as screenings drop

THE hard-won heart health check capable of saving four lives every day is at risk of having its Medicare subsidy removed as tens of thousands of Aussies fail to front up for the test during Covid.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison provided a Medicare rebate for the test before the 2019 election after News Corp and the Heart Foundation campaigned in support of it.

However, the Heart Foundation has learned the rebate was only temporary and could be scrapped next year when it is reviewed by an independent government committee.

“We were seeking, when it was updated or reviewed in May this year, that it would be made permanent but what was done was, it was extended for another two years, but not as a permanent,” Heart Foundation general manager of research Bill Stavrevski said.

More than 217,000 Australians have seen their GP for a heart health check since it was added as a temporary item to the Medicare benefits schedule.

The Heart Foundation is calling for the check to become permanent.

“This concerning data reinforces the urgency of making heart health checks a permanent part of the MBS, as doctors will be dealing with a backlog of people who need preventive heart health care for years to come,” Heart Foundation chief medical adviser Gary Jennings said.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said a review of the heart health check had “identified some issues with the cardiovascular disease risk calculator, which is the primary component of the heart health assessment items”.

“MBS items are only removed from the MBS following review and consultation with relevant stakeholders. It is our intention to make it permanent and we would hope that no other parties would contemplate removing it,” the spokeswoman said.

The Covid pandemic has stunted the number of Australians taking the test, putting lives at risk. At least 27,000 heart health checks have been missed – if these had gone ahead, 345 heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths could have prevented over the next five years, the Heart Foundation has calculated.

“Fewer people having a heart health check means that risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are generally silent or symptom-free, go undiagnosed and potentially worsen, increasing people’s risk of a heart event in the future,” Professor Jennings said.

States least affected by the pandemic had the highest rates of screening.