Rebates in poor health

Half of all pregnant women are facing out-of-pocket expenses averaging $142 for a standard ultrasound because Medicare rebates have not risen in 20 years. Doctors will this week launch an unprecedented TV advertising campaign demanding a rise in Medicare rebates for X-rays and scans to slash the out-of-pocket costs.

HALF of all pregnant women are facing out-of-pocket expenses averaging $142 for a standard ultrasound because Medicare rebates have not risen in 20 years.

And more than half of all cancer patients also face gap fees for scans.

Lung cancer patients pay gap fees of up to $785 for the scans they need for a diagnosis, bowel cancer patients face gaps of $688 and breast cancer patients are paying $447.

One in 10 scans for pensioners are no longer bulk billed.

Doctors will this week launch an unprecedented TV advertising campaign demanding a rise in Medicare rebates for X-rays and scans to slash the out-of-pocket costs.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show 300,000 patients a year don’t have the scans ordered by doctors because they can’t afford them and they miss out on a diagnosis.

The ads, to coincide with the return of parliament this week, will air on Sky News and will pressure the government to provide more funding for scans in the May budget.

The Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association (ADIA) warns the campaign is a taste of what the government will face in the next federal election campaign if nothing changes.

The average out-of-pocket costs for X-rays and scans has now hit $100.

The ads feature a close up of Malcolm Turnbull’s face and the message: “Medicare – ignore it and it will go away”.

Mr Turnbull nearly lost the 2016 election over Labor’s “Mediscare” campaign and signed a last-ditch agreement with radiologists, promising to raise rebates for scans.

After the election the government said it would raise rebates on just 7 per cent of scans and not until 2020. Rebates for the other 800 lifesaving scans and X-rays are at 1998 levels.

The industry views this as a broken election promise.

ADIA is now displaying posters and brochures in medical clinics to increase political pressure on the government.