Heart Health Checks: Funding cut fears for lifesaving Medicare service

A Victorian dad who nearly lost his life has urged the Albanese government to urgently extend funding to fight this silent killer.

Thousands of Australians have called on the Albanese government to save a vital heart check-up that could prevent more than 60,000 deaths, with funding set to end on June 30.

A temporary two-year Medicare subsidy for the Heart Health Check was introduced by the former Morrison Government after a 2019 campaign by News Corp and the Heart Foundation to tackle our country’s leading cause of death.

It meant all Australians over 45, and Indigenous Australians over 30, were eligible for a specific, free, 20-minute General Practitioner appointment to assess their five-year-risk of a heart attack or stroke.

A spokeswoman for Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the government “strongly backs” the checks and an extension was “being considered as part of the 2023-24 Budget process”.

But with the May 9 budget fast approaching – and the government yet to commit to an extension – leading heart bodies have grown increasingly concerned about the Medicare-funded checks future.

A petition, hosted on the Heart Foundation’s website, has reached almost 20,000 signatures and the group is set to meet with MPs this week to promote their cause.

It comes after eight cardiac groups, including the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, met with the Department of Health last month to plead their case.

Victorian Dad Danny Wakelin, 47, is among those calling on the government to extend the subsidy after he suffered a cardiac arrest in January last year.

He nearly lost his life but said there were no symptoms beforehand and a check-up could have spared him and his family the ordeal.

“I have encouraged all my friends and colleagues to get their hearts checked” he said.

“I wouldn’t be too happy with the government if they decided to scrap it.”

Despite wide support among cardiac groups, some influential groups have not backed the campaign, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, who argue single-disease focused subsidies such as heart health assessments lead to fragmented health funding.

“(Disease-specific items) do not accurately reflect the way in which GPs provide person-centred care,” their position statement read.

But the Heart Foundations has maintained the checks are vital and argued the subsidy – which would cost $11.5m in next year’s budget – could help save 67,000 lives and $1bn in healthcare costs over the next five years.

Their chief executive David Lloyd said prevention was “still the best cure”.

“Not only for the heart health of Australians but now also for the nation’s overwhelmed healthcare system,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Minister Butler said the former government “made the decision for these items to expire” and “neglected primary care”.

“The efficacy of health assessments for heart disease is important for ensuring that Australians have access to quality care,” she said.