Cataract Rebates Retained

The Rudd Government has backed-down from imposing extra costs on local residents requiring cataract surgery, said the Federal Member for Mitchell, Alex Hawke.

"The Rudd Government has confirmed that it would no longer seek to reduce Medicare rebates for cataract surgery by a staggering 51 per cent,” Mr Hawke said.  “Cataract sufferers will no longer be hit with hundreds of dollars in extra costs when they undergo surgery.”

After negotiations with ophthalmologists the rebates will be reduced by just 12 per cent and leading doctors have said it is likely most practitioners will absorb that cost leaving few patients out of pocket.

“This is great news for the estimated 120,000 Australians who undergo cataract surgery each year,” Mr Hawke said.

 “The Rudd Government and the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, have stubbornly attempted to impose these savage financial imposts on cataract sufferers without one thought for the impact their actions would have on patients.”

Mr Hawke said the Rudd Government first outlined drastic reductions in Medicare rebates in last year’s Budget.

“The Coalition told them it was the wrong thing to do, crossbench Senators told them it was the wrong thing to do, so too did doctors, pensioners and seniors’ groups, but they continued on,” Mr Hawke said.

“From November 1 last year rebates paid to patients dropped from just over $600 to around $300. That left patients – mostly seniors – the very people who least can afford to pay more, to find several hundred dollars more from their own pockets to pay for this vital surgery.

“The Coalition twice disallowed these cuts in the Senate, forcing the Government to twice increase the rebate. However the Coalition said from the start that it should be returned to its initial level and would have rejected the Government’s actions again when Parliament resumed this month.”

Facing a third rejection in the Senate the Health Minister late last year began negotiations with specialists who carry out cataract surgery.

“That was something which should have done at the outset,” Mr Hawke said.

“The Rudd Government didn’t consider the impact its actions would have on patients, instead it was determined to inflict its ideological views on ordinary Australians at any cost.”