Tell us your story
Every person's experience with chronic pain is different.
We would love to hear and share your story.
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Every person's experience with chronic pain is different.
We would love to hear and share your story.
The needs of chronic pain patients have been ignored
The Australian Government has cut $40 million from needed services for chronic pain patients.
They’ve ignored recommendations from a national taskforce.
They’ve ignored the needs of chronic pain patients.
Help us take a stand and let your voice be heard.
The Australian Government established the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce in mid-2015 to review the more than 5,700 items on the MBS. This was the most comprehensive review of Medicare since it was founded in 1984.
The Taskforce presented almost 1,400 recommendations to the Australian Government across a series of Final Reports submitted by each medical specialty.
The Final Report by Pain Management doctors was submitted in 2019 and recommended that some Medicare Item numbers could be deleted, but that many more should be added to provide adequate care for pain patients.
In December 2021, while the healthcare sector was swamped with the Omicron variant, the government held a 1-week final consultation period.
It then announced that it was:
1) reducing the Medicare items that pain patients could claim and,
2) not adding any of the new items recommended by the Taskforce.
Unable to work due to chronic pain.
Now unable to afford any treatments due to cuts.
Share your story. Spread the word. #easethepain
1 Key recommendations of the Taskforce – minimum necessary for chronic pain patient care. Could be delivered for no extra budget, simply reallocating existing funding
2 Prior to the 1st March 2022 cuts
Chronic Pain Australia’s annual National Pain Survey gives a voice to those Australians living with or caring for someone with chronic pain. The annual survey consistently demonstrates that pain services and multimodal treatment options are already unaffordable and difficult for many to access across Australia. Taking away Medicare funding, will only cause further harm and suffering to the already 3.4 million Australians impacted daily by chronic pain.
The Budget listed a potential cut in pain management services through further amendments to the MBS pain management items resulting in efficiencies of $41.5 million over three years. We are told this may be a ‘redistribution’ of MBS items, but have requested further details from the Health Department about what this means.
The Pain Management Clinical Committee’s recommendations to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) represented a generational opportunity to enable equity of access to high quality care provision by specialist pain teams. Instead, the government’s decision to implement changes recommended by the Pain Management Clinical Committee in a way that only made cuts and didn’t implement all the recommendations represents a cut of $40 million to much needed pain services in Australia. This will certainly have a significant impact on some of the most marginalised patients in our community.
Millions of Australians live with pain and this pain burden is only growing. Chronic pain is a national health problem and costs our economy $billions every year. We also know that up to 80% of people can’t access appropriate pain treatment.
The MBS Taskforce was initiated by the government, to provide recommendations to the Minister for Health, that would allow MBS reform to deliver on affordable and universal access, best-practice health services & ongoing value for both the individual patient and the health system.
How can the government call for better access to pain treatment in their National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management, published in 2021, and yet not implement the recommended MBS updates and changes made by their endorsed medical Taskforce?
