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).