The Heart Foundation is urging Australians, including those in Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges, to continue accessing Medicare-subsidised heart health checks.
New Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) data for May 2022 has been released, revealing Australians have had more than 300,000 the subsidised checked with their GPs since the item was introduced in 2019.
According to a statement from the Heart Foundation, more than 10 per cent of those checks have occurred since March this year since the deaths of a number of high-profile Australians due to heart events.
The foundation also ran a national educational awareness campaign during May’s Heart Week to encourage heart check uptake.
Heart Foundation’s chief medical advisor Professor Garry Jennings AO said people 45 years and older, or 30 years and older for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, should have a regular heart health check.
“It is great to hit this milestone but there are over 8 million people who are eligible for a check,” Professor Jennings said.
“Our message to those Australians is that heart disease is progressive, and its symptoms rarely show before it’s too late.
“A Medicare subsidised Heart Health Check takes just 20 minutes and could help add years to your life as an important first step towards a healthier heart.”
He said demand for the checks might increase further as Australians resume their preventative health check-ups.
“At this rate, we could well reach our target of 450,000 Medicare subsidised Heart Health Checks by the middle of 2023,” Professor Jennings said.
“This just reiterates the need for Government to ensure that Heart Health Checks will be permanently subsidised by Medicare beyond its June 2023 expiry date, especially after several years of people putting off their health due to the pandemic.”
