New dedicated Medicare item for heart health checks in Mitchell
The Coalition Government will ensure that residents in Mitchell at risk of heart disease receive timely and appropriate medical advice with the creation of a new Medicare item for heart health checks.
Federal Member for Mitchell, the Hon Alex Hawke MP, said from April 1 this year a new dedicated MBS item for heart health checks will support General Practitioners and patients in assessing cardiovascular risk.
“Our Government is deeply 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,” Alex Hawke said.
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
Alex Hawke MP said since 2013, the Coalition 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).