Did anyone else do the BCNA survey?

I have been thinking about this for a while and thought I would add that in the BCNA submission they included rebate should include:

·         women with dense breast tissue if mammogram has been found unsuitable

Still not sure if I would have been included in this, who decides if unsuitalbe, the person doing the films or the surgeon? After 6x mammograms during the same appointment and on the same breast - ouch - they said " I think that is what is on the ultrasound"?  Not very reassuring.  This is what was operated on and removed.   Did your submission include people over the age of 50?  At the age of 49 my breast were as dense as a person 10 years younger, and the density actually increased with my age, there are so many variable to consider.  It really is a minefield.  And we are the ticking time bombs.

Really would like to see a total overhaul of this system so that future ladies have the screening that suits their circumstances.

 

 

I was aware of BCNA submissions on MRI but as far as I can tell this would not cover my situation where the mammogram showed suspected cancer but the biopsy didn't pick it up then the MRI did. And I am over 50. I was interested to see the news about the senate inquiry and I will definitely be putting something together about my experience, either as my own submission or to feed into yours. The safety net is also a really annoying consequence of no Medicare rebate - if it doesn't have a medicare rebate number you can't claim it as a safety net cost. It was the same with some of the other costs associated with my imaging tests and biopsy. So I just fell under the safety net threshold last year although I has spent hundreds of dollars more than the threshold on expenses for my diagnosis, and this was doing it through the public system. Viv

I was aware of BCNA submissions on MRI but as far as I can tell this would not cover my situation where the mammogram showed suspected cancer but the biopsy didn't pick it up then the MRI did. And I am over 50. I was interested to see the news about the senate inquiry and I will definitely be putting something together about my experience, either as my own submission or to feed into yours. The safety net is also a really annoying consequence of no Medicare rebate - if it doesn't have a medicare rebate number you can't claim it as a safety net cost. It was the same with some of the other costs associated with my imaging tests and biopsy. So I just fell under the safety net threshold last year although I has spent hundreds of dollars more than the threshold on expenses for my diagnosis, and this was doing it through the public system. Viv

Hi Everyone

This is Kathy from BCNA's Policy Team. I've just seen this blog from last month and thought I should respond.

Ths issue of Medicare rebates for breast MRIs has been on our agenda for some time. There are currently two applications before the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) to extend Medicare rebates for breast MRIs. BCNA has provided submissions to MSAC in support of both applications.

The first application is for MRI screening of women at high risk of developing breast cancer. This includes women under 50 who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer. We agree with Viv W above that it is entirely unfair that a young woman who is at high risk but has not had a diagnosis of breast cancer can access a Medicare rebate, but if she is diagnosed with breast cancer she is no longer eligible.

This application is being considered by MSAC soon. You can read BCNA's submission on our website.

The second application is to extend Medicare rebates for MRI for a number of other purposes, including for presurgical planning, for women with lobular breast cancer, and for women with dense breast tissue where mammogram and ultrasound is inconclusive.

Hopefully this application will be considered by MSAC later in the year.

We will post something on our website we know the outcomes of these two applications.

BCNA is also in the middle of preparing a submission to a federal Parliamentary inquiry into the out of pocket costs of health care. We will definitely include something on MRI in that. You can read more about the inquiry, and how to make a submission, in the News section of our website.

Thanks for raising this important issue on the online network.

Kathy

 

Hi Viv,

I wondered about the Medicare Safety Net, have seen 2 plastic surgeons re: reconstruction, both charging over $300 with $70 back from Medicare, out of pocket probably not counted either?

I had a biopsy that came back unconclusive? Breast surgeon went ahead anyway based on the ultrasound result. It is always in the back of my mind, "Did they get it all"?????

I live in rural Victoria and as there is no public hospital facility for Radiation I had to go the the Private sector. The out of pocket costs were in the thousands.  If I lived in a major city this could have gone through Medicare, I think this is also unfair.

Perhaps we can be Viv1, Viv2 etc lol.

Take care

Viv

 

 

 

Hi Viv

I didn't get the email and my situation is a little different but I am not at all happy about not getting a rebate for an MRI. My mammogram picked up some changes around the scar from my previous lumpectomy, but then a core biopsy missed the cancer. My surgeon said I could just continue to monitor the area annually or have an MRI (without Medicare rebate) 'just to be sure'. The MRI showed  suspected cancer. A surgical biopsy then removed a 2.5 cm cancer  that had already spread to one lymph node, so thank goodness I had the MRI rather than waiting for a year to see what happened. Not only did I not get a rebate, but I couldn't even count the cost  towards the Medicare Safety Net. It seems to me that where there is any good diagnostic reason to have an MRI there should be a rebate. I'm glad you are pursuing this issue, it does seem so unfair.

Viv C (Too many Vivs on here! Very confusing)

Hi Viv

I didn't get the email and my situation is a little different but I am not at all happy about not getting a rebate for an MRI. My mammogram picked up some changes around the scar from my previous lumpectomy, but then a core biopsy missed the cancer. My surgeon said I could just continue to monitor the area annually or have an MRI (without Medicare rebate) 'just to be sure'. The MRI showed  suspected cancer. A surgical biopsy then removed a 2.5 cm cancer  that had already spread to one lymph node, so thank goodness I had the MRI rather than waiting for a year to see what happened. Not only did I not get a rebate, but I couldn't even count the cost  towards the Medicare Safety Net. It seems to me that where there is any good diagnostic reason to have an MRI there should be a rebate. I'm glad you are pursuing this issue, it does seem so unfair.

Viv C (Too many Vivs on here! Very confusing)

Hi Viv

I didn't get the email and my situation is a little different but I am not at all happy about not getting a rebate for an MRI. My mammogram picked up some changes around the scar from my previous lumpectomy, but then a core biopsy missed the cancer. My surgeon said I could just continue to monitor the area annually or have an MRI (without Medicare rebate) 'just to be sure'. The MRI showed  suspected cancer. A surgical biopsy then removed a 2.5 cm cancer  that had already spread to one lymph node, so thank goodness I had the MRI rather than waiting for a year to see what happened. Not only did I not get a rebate, but I couldn't even count the cost  towards the Medicare Safety Net. It seems to me that where there is any good diagnostic reason to have an MRI there should be a rebate. I'm glad you are pursuing this issue, it does seem so unfair.

Viv C (Too many Vivs on here! Very confusing)

Hi Viv, I have not received the email you refer to regarding MRI scans. Your reply to Nicca was very interesting and enlightening and I am sure there are a lot of ladies on this site who can relate to it. It brings up a lot of questions especially regarding government funding for MRI's. I remember when Kerri Ann Kennerley was diagnosed she said that her mammogram only picked up one tumour but a subsequent MRI picked up another one in the same breast and she was most grateful to her Doctors for requesting an MRI prior to her surgery. She said she would lobby Canberra so that all women who required an MRI would get one subsidised. Thank you for your blog Viv, this is a very important issue. Marls