Despite having a family history of breast cancer, the 29-year-old was ineligible for a Medicare rebate.
, initially didn’t think anything of the red mark she found on her left breast about two months ago.Becoming increasingly concerned, she recruited the help of her mother, asking her to check for any lumps.“I was confused, and I was like that’s weird because the inflammation is on the bottom .”
Duffin’s grandmother had previously been diagnosed with the disease, as well as her great-auntie and great uncle.While Duffin was informed the MRI may cost a couple of hundred dollars, she was shocked when the radiology clinic billed her $645.“I was like ‘this is ridiculous’, how is it $645 just to get an MRI done just because I needed it and I wanted to make sure what kind of cyst it was.
“It’s disgusting. Why do we have to pay so much money and go through these steps just to get that done?,” Duffin said.Patients can get a Medicare rebate if they meet the eligibility criteria for being a high risk of developing breast cancer or if they have a referral from a specialist.The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists president professor Sanjay Jeganathan told 7NEWS.com.au that he supports greater access to breast MRIs.
“If a GP referred for a scan, the patient would only have an out-of-pocket cost of maybe $30 or $40.”
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