Today's federal government announcement of over $570 million to improve women's health has been welcomed by one of Australia's foremost experts on women's reproductive health, Professor Danielle Mazza AM, Director, SPHERE NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health in Primary Care at Monash University.
In particular, the almost $170 million commitment to making Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) such as IUD's more widely available is a "hugely positive move," she said.
"The funding will go a long way to reversing the low uptake of long-acting reversible contraception like IUDs which are safe, and more effective than the contraceptive pill."
The funding announcement was made in Canberra by the Hon Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Katy Gallagher, the Federal Minister for Women and the Hon Mark Butler, Federal Health Minister.
As part of the $573 million package to address access and affordability in relation to women's health, the government has allocated $169.2 million for LARC access measures including:
- $77.9 million for increases to the rebates of four LARC items and new items for nurse practitioner insertions
- $65.7 million for MBS loading for bulk billing insertions
- $25.1 million for LARC centres of training excellence providing a central referral point and training location for LARC.
Cost savings expected to flow from a Medicare loading for doctors to bulk bill will save around 300,000 women up to $400 a year in out-of-pocket costs.
"Changes to the Medicare Benefits Scheme for insertions by GPs and nurse practitioners mean that women can now get access to IUD and Implanon insertion and removals appointments at no out-of-pocket cost, with women only having to pay for the cost of the prescription," Professor Mazza said.
"These new measures mean that GPs and nurse practitioners will receive more appropriate remuneration for providing these services and so more and more will choose to do so, making these excellent contraceptives more available and accessible."
Medicare funding for nurse practitioners to deliver long-term contraceptive services, as well as $25 million earmarked for eight LARC training centres for health professionals including in regional and remote areas, "means that women regardless of postcode or income will now have access to the most effective forms of contraception," Professor Mazza said.
In 2020 Professor Mazza and her colleagues at the SPHERE Centre investigated why Australian women had a lower uptake of LARC compared to women in the US, UK and Sweden. "Much of what we discovered as barriers to women having access to LARC – such as the poor remuneration of GPs for LARC insertions; the lack of opportunities for GPs to train in IUD insertion and the high out of pocket costs incurred by women for the insertion procedure, have been addressed with this funding announcement," Professor Mazza said. "Assistant Minister Kearney and Ministers Butler and Gallagher are to be commended for listening to the research and acting on it."
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