Every 10 weeks, 74-year-old Russell Sibbison gets an injection in each of his eyes. Without them his diabetes would slowly cause him to go blind.
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Right now the procedure costs him nothing thanks to his private health cover and the Tasmanian Eye Institute.
But that could change if the federal government accepts a recommendation made during the review of Medicare item numbers.
The recommendation would make eye injections a type C procedure meaning private insurers would not have to cover their clients costs.
With the current Medicare items schedule out of pocket costs for injections are about $70 - if doctors are charging according to the Medicare Benefits Schedule.
However, another proposed change to that schedule would reduce the rebate offered for the procedure and potentially cause prices to rise by up to $250 per injection.
"Without the injections I couldn't drive and I would probably go blind," Mr Sibbison said.
"I would have to think about cutting back from three meals a day to two."
Every five years an independent body undertakes a review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule and makes recommendations about what should change.
A draft review was put out for public consultation in 2019 with the above recommendations. Despite a lengthy public consultation process the final report released in December last year was almost identical to the draft.
Tasmanian Eye Institute, a charity for research, education and service in ophthalmology, is leading the call for people to write to the federal Health Minister and local federal government representatives urging them to oppose the recommendations.
TEI director and University of Tasmania professor in ophthalmology Brendan Vote said it was an awareness issue.
He said there was traditionally two avenues for people to access treatment - private health or public Medicare subsidised outpatient services.
A study Professor Vote conducted for the TEI found that 40 per cent of people who access injections with no-gap through private health would not be able to afford care should the government accept the independent taskforce's recommendation.
A further 20 per cent would also struggle to access care. Professor Vote said about 40 per cent of people who access the treatments do so through private health.
He said the remaining 60 per cent rely on Medicare subsidies and that if the government were to accept the taskforce's other recommendation, it would price people out of care.
"Medicare covers the bulk of that cost and recommendation 18 looks to add an extra $200 out of pocket to patients cost each injection," Professor Vote said.
"Most people that need these treatments, for things like macular degeneration, diabetes, vein inclusions, have six to eight injections a year and that is per eye.
"So some people need up to 24 injections a year if they are having it every month. So you start doing the numbers on that and how many people can find an extra couple of hundred bucks a month per eye - and the reality is that they are not going to access the care and they will go blind."
Professor Vote said now was the time for people to lobby their local members and the federal Health Minister to ensure the right decision is made.
"Already the cost of blindness in Australia is over $5 billion for the diseases that these injections treat," he said.
"It is important to note that these are recommendations by a non-government taskforce and now it is going to government where they accept or reject those.
"There is a whole bunch of recommendations the taskforce have made that are good but these two in particular will be very bad for patients that need these treatments."
On Wednesday Bass Liberal MHR Bridget Archer wrote to Health Minister Greg Hunt on behalf of the Tasmanian Liberal team to relay the concerns of Professor Vote and his patients.
"For some of our constituents, the effect of the government accepting and implementing these recommendations would be to see many patients lose access to the injections due to increased and prohibitive out of pocket costs," the letter read.
"Patients have described to us their fear that these increased costs will mean that they will no longer be able to receive these sight saving injections, and that their quality of life will be significantly reduced."
A federal Health Department spokesperson said the government was considering all the recommendations made in MBS Review Taskforce Ophthalmology Report.
"A key consideration for the government is to ensure that any changes to modernise and reform Medicare must better meet the health needs of Australians now and into the future, and not have any unintended consequences," the spokesperson said.
"This consideration would include an analysis of the potential consequences for patients' out of pocket costs.
"Before any recommendations are implemented, further consultation with the eye services profession would occur."