Post by Banjo on Dec 2, 2019 10:39:36 GMT 7
Breast cancer: Out-of-pocket costs for private patients double that of public patients
When Miriam Leahy was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, her one comfort was that she’d dutifully paid almost $50,000 in health insurance premiums, and in 12 years had never made a significant claim.
Miriam, of Ocean Grove, Victoria, was confident the financial side of her catastrophe was taken care of.
Indeed she had banked on it: The $369-a-month premium for family cover on a primary school teacher’s salary wasn’t chump change.
“I thought this is the opportunity to claim,” she told The New Daily.
“If not now, when?”
But the reality of the private system was quick to decimate Miriam’s confidence and replace it with rage.
Her “rude awakening” came when Miriam’s health fund, HCF, informed her it would not help pay for any diagnostic tests, including scans.
The system’s structural problems create resentment
In fact, the fund can’t be blamed for this: By law, according to health.gov.au, “private health insurance does not offer cover for out-of-hospital medical services” including GP visits, consultations with specialists in their rooms, diagnostic imaging and tests.
And while the government website declares: “Medicare covers these services”, it wasn’t true in the case of PET and MRI breast scans – long a cause of complaint for patients and advocacy groups.
In fact, in March, as Miriam was coming to terms with her pending double mastectomy, the federal government announced that Medicare would offer a rebate on these services – but this didn’t come into effect until November 1.
For Miriam, three MRIs left her $1285 out of pocket while a CT scan cost her $255.
Between April and October, she paid more than $1400 in specialist fees and close to $200 for heavy-duty pain medication and antibiotics.
Read more....
thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2019/12/01/breast-cancer-costs-health/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20News%20-%2020191202
When Miriam Leahy was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, her one comfort was that she’d dutifully paid almost $50,000 in health insurance premiums, and in 12 years had never made a significant claim.
Miriam, of Ocean Grove, Victoria, was confident the financial side of her catastrophe was taken care of.
Indeed she had banked on it: The $369-a-month premium for family cover on a primary school teacher’s salary wasn’t chump change.
“I thought this is the opportunity to claim,” she told The New Daily.
“If not now, when?”
But the reality of the private system was quick to decimate Miriam’s confidence and replace it with rage.
Her “rude awakening” came when Miriam’s health fund, HCF, informed her it would not help pay for any diagnostic tests, including scans.
The system’s structural problems create resentment
In fact, the fund can’t be blamed for this: By law, according to health.gov.au, “private health insurance does not offer cover for out-of-hospital medical services” including GP visits, consultations with specialists in their rooms, diagnostic imaging and tests.
And while the government website declares: “Medicare covers these services”, it wasn’t true in the case of PET and MRI breast scans – long a cause of complaint for patients and advocacy groups.
In fact, in March, as Miriam was coming to terms with her pending double mastectomy, the federal government announced that Medicare would offer a rebate on these services – but this didn’t come into effect until November 1.
For Miriam, three MRIs left her $1285 out of pocket while a CT scan cost her $255.
Between April and October, she paid more than $1400 in specialist fees and close to $200 for heavy-duty pain medication and antibiotics.
Read more....
thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2019/12/01/breast-cancer-costs-health/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20News%20-%2020191202
