In brief
Vision 2020 Australia welcomes the Australian Labor Party's announcement this morning to unfreeze Medicare indexation in 2017. If elected, the Federal Opposition has committed to spend $12 billion over a decade to lift the freeze on Medicare rebates.
Vision 2020 Australia’s Acting CEO, Brandon Ah Tong, said lifting the freeze on Medicare indexation was a critical move to ensure access to quality eye care and a sustainable eye care system.
“Lifting the freeze is great news for people who are most disadvantaged in our society who rely on universal access to bulk-billed services and who are often more at risk of developing vision loss,” Mr Ah Tong said.
“With 75 per cent of vision loss in Australia preventable or treatable, investing in prevention and early detection reduces the impact on Australia’s healthcare system.”
The announcement is in line with Vision 2020 Australia’s recommendations Towards 2020, released in February this year, calling for immediate lifting of the Medicare indexation freeze for ophthalmology and optometry services.
The Towards 2020: A vision of working in partnership for eye health and vision care is available here
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For more information: Louise Rudzki at Vision 2020 Australia
03 9656 2020, 0414 784 359 or lrudzki@vision2020australia.org.au