Free check of prostate

TENS of thousands of men will be able to get a Medicarefunded MRI to check for prostate cancer in a $15-20 million measure expected in the federal Budget.

A $400 Medicare rebate will be made available for scans to diagnose and monitor prostate cancer, the Bulletin understands.

The rebate will be a financial boon to thousands of men now paying the full $600 cost of the scans themselves and could help those who can’t afford the test to avoid a biopsy.

About 20,000 men are expected to benefit from the rebate every year. It will revolutionise prostate cancer care by reducing the number of diagnostic biopsies that can leave men with dangerous infections and other side-effects, including infection, bleeding and urinary obstruction.

Instead of having a biopsy, men with elevated levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in their blood will now be able to have a simple MRI scan to check for cancer.