Medicare Stymies Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

Medicare Stymies Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

Even though prostate cancer is one of the few cancers that can be cured if found early enough, Medicare does not cover the MRIs which can detect it and help treat it.

This situation is even worse given prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australian men, killing some 3,300 annually – one man every three hours.

That's more than the number of women dying of breast cancer.

'This is a perfect example of the pressing need for Medicare's rebates to keep up with advances in diagnostic imaging," said Dr Sue Ulreich, President of the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association (ADIA).

'If Medicare – our national health insurance scheme – doesn't properly cover such a widespread and deadly condition as prostate cancer, then surely something is wrong."

With September being International Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, ADIA believes Australia should not only concentrate on the vital issues of awareness and detection, but also on treatment and cost.

A study by Griffith University's Health Institute found men with prostate cancer are being hit by out of pocket expenses of $23,000 because of shortfalls in the Medicare rebates.* 

'The simple fact is that, because of that huge cost, many men simply aren't diagnosed and treated early enough and therefore their survival rate is much lower,' Dr Ulreich said.

Modern medical imaging technology, like MRI, is critical for a patient with prostate cancer.

Not only does imaging help detect early stage tumors, it allows more precise treatment of the cancer, and can also help identify higher grade (more dangerous) tumors which will affect treatment regimens.

'Now Australia has a new Federal Health Minister, we're calling on Canberra to act on this serious issue," Dr Ulreich said.

'As the health insurance scheme for all Australians, it's abundantly clear that Medicare rebates should cover MRIs to detect and treat prostate cancer.

'But in truth we need to go further than that – the simple fact is that Medicare rebates for medical imaging have not been indexed since 1998.

'This means the gaps patients have to pay, for all kinds of life-saving imaging not just MRIs, have been steadily growing for 15 years and are now increasing at a totally unsustainable rate of 10% per annum."

While diagnostic imaging – which is absolutely central to modern health care – is not indexed to match rising costs, virtually everything else covered by Medicare is, including items like acupuncture, IVF and podiatry.
 

More and more cancer patients are opting not to have images taken because they simply can't afford the gap payments.
 
ADIA wants to work with the Commonwealth Government to develop a sustainable solution that will improve Medicare rebates for all patients.

Patients Speak

'The Government should cover all MRIs for prostate and breast cancer sufferers. At the moment, Medicare doesn't cover either adequately and patients are out of pocket, as well as everything else they have to deal with." - Byron Hocking, Mentone, Victoria.

'Medical imaging is one of the essential elements of the medical industry – it is one of the great -medical marvels' – imaging should be indexed as are parliamentary (super) pensions."  - Robert Scott, Seaham, NSW.

Background

 

Medical imaging plays an important role in both the prevention and diagnosis of most cancers, as well as playing an integral role in the treatment of patients who have cancer.

Through monitoring tumours, medical imaging is used to assess disease progression and response to treatment (usually following chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy).

While all imaging modalities have a role to play depending on the type of cancer, most commonly Computed Tomography (CT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are used as staging tools post diagnosis to assist in measuring patient prognosis.

However, other modalities such a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are now emerging as important procedures in cancers requiring greater tissue differentiation and characterisation of change, such as the cervix, breast and prostate.

With technological advancement in cross-sectional imaging, techniques such as whole-body Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) in MRI or Dual Energy Imaging in CT are adding greater diagnostic confidence in the evaluation of a patient's response to therapy and surgical intervention.

To find out more about the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association (ADIA) visit www.adia.asn.au.