Short-sighted: Optometrists say eye health could decline as a result of Medicare cuts. Photo: Dean Osland
More patients will pay to see an optometrist as a result of a cut to Medicare rebates that took effect at the start of the year, optometrists say.
The 5 per cent cut to the optometry rebates announced in the May budget means that an optometrist who bulk-bills their patient will receive $3.55 less from Medicare for a standard visit.
However optometrists, who previously were not allowed to charge more than the Medicare scheduled fee, are now free to charge patients as much as they like.
Kate Gifford, the national president of Optometry Australia, said while allowing optometrists to set their own fees was welcome, the cuts to rebates, which are estimated to save about $90 million over four years, were “extremely short-sighted”.
“If patients stay away, it will lower eye health outcomes for the community,” Mrs Gifford said.
“This could have quite significant outcomes in the future if people delay eye care because they’re concerned about affordability.”
Almost 97 per cent of optometry services are delivered at no charge to the patient. But Mrs Gifford said many patients would face out-of-pocket costs as optometrists charged fees to recover the income they would lose from Medicare.
“I think you will see optometrists charging,” she said.
While the government is proposing to exempt vulnerable patients including pensioners, veterans and concession card holders from a $5 cut to the rebate for GP services which is to take effect from July, no such exemptions have been made to the cut to optometry rebates.
Mrs Gifford said Optometry Australia was seeking meetings with the government about the effect the change would have on disadvantaged groups.
“Everybody needs eye health care, but there are some people who genuinely can’t afford a co-payment,” she said.
She said some optometrists who served low-income groups would not be able to charge their patients fees, and would come under financial pressure.
In a separate change that also came into force on January 1, people under 65 years of age without new symptoms will only be able to claim a Medicare rebate for a comprehensive eye examination every three years, rather than every two years.
Mrs Gifford said this change, which is estimated to save almost $10 million over five years, was “not positive and not evidence-based”.
But she welcomed a related change which would give people aged 65 and over Medicare-funded comprehensive examinations every year, rather than every two years.
A spokeswoman for the federal health department said optometrists would determine whether to continue to bulk-bill or to charge their patients out-of-pocket costs.
The spokeswoman said the Medicare Benefits Schedule provided for a patient under 65 years of age to have a second or subsequent consultation with an optometrist within three years if necessary.
Medicare funded optometric services would continue to be available for patients who had symptoms, the spokeswoman said.
She said the the revenue generated from the changes would be invested in the Medical Research Future Fund, which “has the potential to deliver treatments, or even cures, for some of the world’s most debilitating diseases.”