HEART disease remains the nation’s leading cause of death – tragically taking the life of one Australian every 30 minutes, according to the Heart Foundation.
Heart failure affects more than 400,000 Australians and contributes to 61,000 deaths each year.
It also accounts for 70,000 hospital admissions per year.
Tragically, those in rural areas and Indigenous Australians bear a disproportionate burden of heart failure.
Data released from the Heart Foundation showed death from heart disease is 60 per cent higher in rural and remote areas of Australia, compared to metropolitan areas.
That is a harrowing statistic.
The prevalence of heart disease is why the Coalition introduced Heart Health Checks to the Medicare Benefit Schedule in 2019 under MBS items numbers 699 and 177.
These lifesaving checks are currently the only available Medicare items dedicated specifically to the early detection and prevention of heart disease in Australia.
Four years on and these checks are now under threat, with concerns the Federal Government will not extend the checks on the MBS beyond June 30.
Nearly 440,000 Australians have seen their GP for a Medicare-subsidised Heart Health Check since they were introduced in 2019.
The Heart Foundation estimates that over a five-year period, Heart Health Checks could help prevent over 67,000 heart attacks, strokes and heart disease related deaths in high-risk Australians.
I have been contacted by many constituents worried about the heart checks being removed from the MBS.
The Albanese Government must immediately confirm whether the MBS items are being removed and whether they will ensure Australians retain access to affordable heart health checks.
Heart health is not a partisan issue – it is something that any government should be striving to provide fair and equal access to.
You never know whose life could be saved.
