Government’s Big Promises For Menopause Care!
MORE AFFORDABLE HORMONAL TREATMENTS!
The Federal Government has announced several measures to improve peri & menopause care, including the addition of newer Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) products on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
From 1st March Estrogel, Prometrium and Estrogel Pro will finally be available on the PBS, making them affordable for most women. These will become available for $31.60 per month, or $7.70 for pension and concession card holders.
For the last 20 years there has been a limited range of hormonal treatments available on PBS which includes most of the older oral MHT products and patches.
But women’s bodies, menopausal symptoms and medical circumstances vary enormously; hormonal treatment is NOT “one size fits all” and many women need different products that have not previously been available on PBS. They have been unfairly disadvantaged because many just simply couldn’t afford the best treatment for them.
We’ve learned a LOT about MHT in the last 20 years, yet there have been no new additions to the range avail on PBS during that time- until now. Some older and oral hormonal treatments have been linked to an increase in breast cancer risk, unwanted blood clots and strokes. Current evidence suggests that more modern TGA-approved products that are body-identical (like the ones named above) are less likely to have these effects.
Approved “Body-identical” products (hormonal molecules with identical structure to those produced by our bodies) should NOT to be confused with so-called BIO-identical compounded products however. These may contain body-identical molecules, but are compounded in an unregulated way and have no evidence of consistency, effectiveness or safety. Also they are not available on PBS, so they will be WAY more expensive!
OTHER MEASURES ANNOUNCED:
The PBS additions are guaranteed, but other elements of the Government’s $537M plan for women’s healthcare are dependant on re-election. Let us tell you more about their plans specifically related to peri and menopause care…
In December 2023- even before the menopause Senate Inquiry- WellFemme submitted Budget recommendations to the Federal Government on behalf of a consortium of Menopause experts and advocates pictured below) with this summary:
We are proud to say that the Government’s plan for improving menopause support is completely aligned with our recommendations, as well as recommendations from the recent Senate Inquiry into perimenopause and menopause.
Here’s our wish-list from 2023, alongside the measures announced today:
- 1. A National Menopause Action Plan: not included in today’s announcement unfortunately, but there are plans to develop the first ever national guidelines for menopause care (so they get a half-tick here).
- 2. Public awareness campaign: included in the Government’s plan- tick! (but $???)
- 3. GP education: also included, but funding details aren’t provided. A cautious tick.
- 4. MBS reform: there are plans to create a new Medicare item number for long menopause consultations (again, funding details TBA). Another tick, BUT complete Medicare reform is needed to ensure that GP’s (particularly female GP’s) are appropriately paid for longer more complex consultations.
- 5 & 6. Unfortunately no research funding was announced today. More work needed.
- 7. Access to affordable medicines: a big tick for the additions to the PBS, but Government still needs to resolve the medication supply issues, particularly the MHT patch shortages.
These measures announced by the Government are directly due to the efforts of hundreds of passionate clinicians, researchers, patients and advocates, not to mention the exhaustive efforts of the Senate Committee (especially Greens Senator Larissa Waters) in investigating and exposing these issues.
We also thank our WellFemme contributors; we know many of you have been lobbying your politicians about these issues. Congratulations to all for your tireless advocacy!
What is WellFemme About?
If you can’t find the professional help you need for your menopause or perimenopausal symptoms then book a Telehealth consultation with an expert WellFemme menopause doctor.
WellFemme is Australia’s first dedicated Telehealth menopause clinic, servicing locations nationwide including: Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin, Perth, Hobart, Brisbane, Dubbo, Bendigo, Broken Hill, Broome, Alice Springs, Launceston, Cairns, Mildura, Lightning Ridge, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Toowoomba, Charleville, Port Headland, Katherine, Ballarat, Coober Pedy, Bourke, Albury… and your place! 
Tags
Hormonal treatment, hormones, menopausal hormone therapy, menopause, MHT, PBS, peri menopause, pharmaceutical benefits scheme, senate, women's healthcare,