Members of our community at risk of heart disease will receive timely and appropriate medical advice with the creation of a new Medicare item for Heart Health Checks, the Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan said.
From April 1, a new dedicated MBS item for Heart Health Checks will support doctors and patients in assessing cardiovascular risk.
“This dedicated Medicare item for Heart Heath Checks will save and protect lives,” Mr Hogan said.
“We are committed to tackling Australia’s biggest killer – heart disease. One Australian dies of cardiovascular disease every 12 minutes, with one Australian experiencing a heart attack or stroke every five minutes.”
Anyone who is concerned about their heart health should always ask their GP for a check-up. Currently there are a range of Medicare items that cover services and tests where people may have heart disease or are at risk of heart disease, including:
- Specialist consultations with a cardiologist
- Electrocardiogram tests (ECG)
- Exercise ECG
- Stress (exercise) ECG
- Cardiac ECG
- Coronary angiography
- Computed tomography coronary arteries
- Chest x-ray
- Electrophysiology studies
- Cholesterol tests
- Lipid tests
- Glucose test
Since 2013, the Government has provided $662.2 million for research into cardiovascular disease and provided $7.7 billion to subsidise medicine to treat cardiovascular disease on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
