Stop Medicare rebate cuts for sight-saving eye injections or 47,000 Aussies could go blind
Stop Medicare rebate cuts for sight-saving eye injections or 47,000 Aussies could go blind
The issue
Most Australians don’t have to choose between buying groceries and going blind, but that’s the choice many people with living with macular disease have to make.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in Australia. Sight-saving eye injections are required to treat wet (neovascular) AMD, the most aggressive form of this disease. These eye injections also save sight for people with diabetic macular oedema, a complication of diabetic retinopathy that can also cause blindness.
However, 15 years after this breakthrough eye injection treatment became available, many patients still struggle to afford it.
While eye injections treat wet AMD and other macular disease such as diabetic macular oedema, they aren’t a cure. That means you need to maintain regular injections – often for the rest of your life. The time between eye injections ranges from between four and 12 weeks. On average, people requiring treatment will have between five to seven injection per eye over a year. If you stop eye injections, there’s a real risk of irreversible vision loss or blindness.
The average patient pays $1,900 in out-of-pocket fees a year – double if they need injections in both eyes – according to PwC analysis commissioned by Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA).
Now, the Australian Government is considering a recommendation by the MBS Review Taskforce to cut the Medicare rebate for eye injections by 69 per cent!
If the Government makes this cut, PwC calculates those annual out-of-pocket fees will more than double. The extra cost will force an additional 47,000 patients to give up treatment over five years.
That’s 47,000 reasons to ask the Australian Government to say NO to this rebate cut. Because when you stop treatment, you risk going blind.
Most AMD patients are elderly and rely on limited pension and superannuation incomes for their daily living expenses and medical costs. They shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table and going blind.
MDFA is committed to stopping this proposed Medicare rebate cut and improve nationwide access to sight-saving treatment.
Every Australian deserves access to affordable treatment, so that they can keep their sight to see their loved ones and maintain a good quality of life.
The issue
Most Australians don’t have to choose between buying groceries and going blind, but that’s the choice many people with living with macular disease have to make.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in Australia. Sight-saving eye injections are required to treat wet (neovascular) AMD, the most aggressive form of this disease. These eye injections also save sight for people with diabetic macular oedema, a complication of diabetic retinopathy that can also cause blindness.
However, 15 years after this breakthrough eye injection treatment became available, many patients still struggle to afford it.
While eye injections treat wet AMD and other macular disease such as diabetic macular oedema, they aren’t a cure. That means you need to maintain regular injections – often for the rest of your life. The time between eye injections ranges from between four and 12 weeks. On average, people requiring treatment will have between five to seven injection per eye over a year. If you stop eye injections, there’s a real risk of irreversible vision loss or blindness.
The average patient pays $1,900 in out-of-pocket fees a year – double if they need injections in both eyes – according to PwC analysis commissioned by Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA).
Now, the Australian Government is considering a recommendation by the MBS Review Taskforce to cut the Medicare rebate for eye injections by 69 per cent!
If the Government makes this cut, PwC calculates those annual out-of-pocket fees will more than double. The extra cost will force an additional 47,000 patients to give up treatment over five years.
That’s 47,000 reasons to ask the Australian Government to say NO to this rebate cut. Because when you stop treatment, you risk going blind.
Most AMD patients are elderly and rely on limited pension and superannuation incomes for their daily living expenses and medical costs. They shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table and going blind.
MDFA is committed to stopping this proposed Medicare rebate cut and improve nationwide access to sight-saving treatment.
Every Australian deserves access to affordable treatment, so that they can keep their sight to see their loved ones and maintain a good quality of life.
Victory
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The Decision Makers
Petition created on 22 March 2022