Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm once again asking the Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House not to force regional patients with macular degeneration to choose between going blind or going broke. And while I thank the minister for answering my calls last year on behalf of the hundreds of constituents in my electorate affected by the proposed policy change, I am disheartened to see that after a 12-month agreed deferral period, this devastating change is back on the table. From 1 July, patients receiving intravitreal injections will no longer be able to claim health fund benefits if the procedure is performed in private hospitals or day surgeries. Instead, they'll be forced into the overstretched regional hospitals or be made to pay the full cost at private ophthalmology clinics, a cost that is simply too high for too many. This is city-centric policymaking from Labor that completely ignores regional reality. For patients in electorates like mine, access to public ophthalmology services is extremely limited, with hospital waiting lists too long for a condition like this. Travelling hundreds of kilometres to metro hospitals every month is the only alternative, which is physically impossible for many. Please, Minister, listen. Don't take away a regional patient's sight with this short-sighted decision. Reverse it today.