Advocacy group and clinicians urge action: Will the government ease the burden or leave patients in the dark?

Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) has launched its election recommendations in Sydney yesterday, featuring Associate Professor Alex Hunyor, ophthalmologist and Chair of MDFA medical committee, Jillian Skinner AM, former NSW Health Minister, and Dr Kathy Chapman, CEO of MDFA.

The foundation has called on the next Federal Government to introduce bulk billing for sight-saving eye injections for pensioners, potentially saving $140 million annually.

Recent research by MDFA in collaboration with the University of New South Wales, revealed that individuals with macular disease spend 12% of their annual pension payments, averaging $3,621, on eye injection treatments.

“No one should have to go blind simply because they can’t afford the treatment that would save their sight,” Skinner emphasised, who is herself living with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). “Eye injections ensure that I can retain my vision, maintain my independence, and keep living life to the fullest. I have spent much of my life fighting for equitable access to essential health services. It is clear that the time for change is now.”

Bayer and Roche’s anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) eye injections are the game-changing treatment available for people with the neovascular AMD and other chronic conditions of the eye, including diabetic macular oedema and retinal vein occlusion.

A survey conducted by MDFA, involving nearly 1,500 Australians with macular disease, highlighted significant financial burdens, with nearly one in ten individuals spending over $6,000 annually on treatments, amounting to about 20% of their pension.

MDFA CEO Dr Kathy Chapman stated, “Eye injections are primarily delivered in private ophthalmology clinics in Australia, with only around 20% of them offering bulk billing, meaning that more than 72,000 people having eye injections have no choice but to pay expensive out-of-pocket costs to receive their treatment to keep their sight.”

“RANZCO shares Macular Disease Foundation’s concern about the ongoing impact of macular disease on the Australian community and believes that more needs to be done to prevent vision loss for the estimated 1.9 million Australians with this condition,” stated Professor Peter McCluskey, President of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

The treatment for neovascular AMD, necessitating frequent injections every four to six weeks, poses a significant financial challenge, with approximately 50% of patients discontinuing treatment within five years due to out-of-pocket costs.

MDFA’s research also revealed higher costs for regional and remote residents, averaging over $400 more annually compared to those in major cities. Residents in remote areas face the highest costs, exceeding $1,700 annually compared to metropolitan counterparts.

To alleviate financial strain on pension cardholders, MDFA proposes a Neovascular AMD Treatment Incentive Program to encourage bulk billing by ophthalmologists, potentially saving the government $140 million annually with an estimated cost of $11.1 million per year.

Dr Chapman emphasised, “Even when the country is not in a cost-of-living crisis, accessing affordable or bulk-billed treatment is an insurmountable problem for too many low-income earners, pensioners, and self-funded retirees.

“As people with neovascular AMD require frequent and ongoing eye injections, sometimes up to monthly, it is vital the Government extends bulk billing to older Australians who require sight-saving injections.”

There are an estimated 1.9 million people in Australia who live with a macular disease. In 2023, more than 108,000 people with a treatable macular disease including nAMD, diabetic macular oedema, and retinal vein occlusion, received eye injection treatment

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