Sue Dunlevy, National Health Reporter, News Corp Australia Network | Daily Telegraph
In a major win for millions of Australians, News Corp Australia has secured support from both sides of politics for a crucial step in stopping Australia’s biggest single killer — heart disease.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have both promised to deliver Medicare-funded heart health checks that could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars after News Corp Australia and the Heart Foundation launched the #ShowSomeTicker campaign to stop heart disease, which kills 51 people a day.
Mr Morrison will announce today that from April 1 Australians at risk of heart disease will be eligible for a multi-point heart check-up, which will be estimated to prevent 76,500 heart attacks — 9100 of them fatal — and save $1.5 billion over the next five years.
MORE: Majority of Australians at risk of heart attack
MORE: Heart disease issue unites both sides of politics
Medicare will provide a rebate of $72.80 for the half-hour service, in which a GP will check a patient’s blood pressure, cholesterol, lifestyle factors, smoking status and family history then estimate their risk of a heart attack in the next five years.
